Artifact 2

Memorandum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------To: Dr. Caryn Wells, Superintendent
From: John Grizzly, Oakland Community Schools Human Resource Specialist
Date: November 30, 2015
Subject: Webster Elementary Mentorship and Action Plan

After meeting with you on October 25, 2015, I have reviewed the data you gave me regarding
Webster Elementary and its staff. I had an opportunity this past week to meet with Principal
Papadapolis to begin getting to know her and the school community. After careful observations
and reflections, I have attached responses to your questions you provided me that I believe will
help get Webster Elementary back on the right path. Please note that some of my responses are
supported by research, hence the notations in parentheses.
How do you guide the principal to assess the staff? What are your conclusions about this
school?
Assessing the staff:
Understanding that inspiring leaders make emotional connections (Zenger & Folkman,
2013), recommend to the principal to meet informally with each staff member to improve
relationships and get a better understanding of the current school culture.
Get to know each staff member on a personal level (i.e. family, interests outside
of school)
Get to know each staff member on a professional level (i.e. goals, aspirations,
career highlights)
Discuss with each staff member what they feel are the best attributes of Webster
Elementary and its school community.
Discuss with each staff member what they feel Webster needs the most to improve.
Complete a minimum of one walk-through informal observation per week of each staff
member.
Follow-up conversation or memo with each staff member

Conclusions:
Webster Elementary is comprised of a large staff of 26 educators, with a broad range of
experience. Over half the staff has been teaching 16 years or more, and several of those were
noted as marginal or below average on their informal evaluation. Although the previous
principal had formally documented only two teachers below average, Principal Papadapolis
informal observations paint a much different picture. Two grade levels (3rd and 6th) are of most
concern based off of the teacher evaluation data. The remaining grade levels appear to have at
least one highly effective teacher. The marginal teacher effectiveness data, the climate of
isolation among the staff, and the lack of parental support and satisfaction has created a toxic
culture at the school. In addition to affecting the culture, these may also have been the primary
causes of the declining student test data. These will be areas that the principal will want to
address with the staff and parent community moving forward.
What are the questions you would ask the principal to get her to think about improving the
effectiveness of the staff? What evidence would you use to help this principal realistically and
fairly look for teacher improvement?
Questions to begin thinking about improving staff effectiveness:
1. When you walk into a classroom, what attributes do you look for that represent effective
teaching and learning?
2. What do you see as the strengths of the staff at Webster Elementary?
3. What areas concern you the most about your staff?
4. How would you summarize the current culture amongst the staff?
5. How often do your teachers collaborate within grade levels or across grade levels with a
focus on student growth?
6. What professional learning opportunities do you feel are needed in your school?
7. Have you identified teacher leaders and master teachers within your building?
8. Are there schoolwide committees? If so, how is it determined who serves on the
committees?
Evidence needed to represent teacher improvement:
Student growth data (including data walls within classrooms)
Overall teacher evaluation data
Parent perception data
Student perception data
Student behavior (i.e. number of discipline referrals)
Staff perception data
Grade-level PLC minutes
How often and what is the focus of each meeting?
Are the goals aligned to the schools improvement plan?
Displays of student work

What kinds of staff development would you suggest she initiate for this school year?
Webster Elementary has many areas that have been identified as needing improvement. To have
the greatest impact on student achievement, I will be recommending to Principal Papadapolis
that the focus of staff development should be on cultures and systems for the remainder of the
school year. According to Fullan & Quinn (2016), The key to a capacity building approach lies
in developing a common knowledge and skill base across all leaders and educators in the system,
focusing on a few goals (p. 57) Therefore, my recommendations will include:
Creating school mission, vision, values, and goal statements
Team-building activities (i.e. book study, staff retreat, after school social outings)
Utilizing local ISD to provide professional development on:
team-building
development of effective PLCs
student growth data analysis
mindfulness training
How will you help this principal understand the parents and community? What importance
will you place on working with the parents?
Working with the parents and community is of great importance in developing a high-performing
school. As stated by Olsen and Fuller (2008), understanding parents benefits the school by:
Schools that actively involve parents and the community tend to establish better
reputations in the community.
Schools also experience better community support.
School programs that encourage and involve parents usually do better and have higher
quality programs than programs that do not involve parents (p. 129-130).
To better understand the parents and community, I will help the principal:
Develop, deploy, and analyze a parent perception survey. This survey will include
questions aimed at gathering parent perceptions regarding school climate, teacher
satisfaction, and their child(ren)s educational experience.
Create a monthly parent meeting schedule. Each month will have a focus based on the
concerns from the parent survey.
Establish a working relationship with the PTA (attend monthly meetings)
Create opportunities for face-to-face interactions (i.e. family-focused events, parent
volunteers, student achievement showcases/celebrations) to build relationships and
networks (Bolman & Deal, 2008, p. 365).
Reflect on parent and community interactions with one-on-one discussions following
these specific events.

What are the landmine issues for which you will warn the principal? What are the
cautions?
Landmines/Cautions:
Third grade, a pivotal transition year for student foundational skills (academic and
social), had no teacher with an evaluation of above average or better.
Managers often fail to get things done because they rely too much on reason and too
little on relationships. (Bolman & Deal, p. 218) Having a strong plan with data to
support it is not enough; Principal Papadapolis must focus on the relationship with and
among stakeholders to be successful.
47% of your veteran staff (16 years+) are marginal or below average on their formal and
informal evaluations.
Possible resistance from staff to participate in team-building activities.
Devoting too much time to issues not related to mission, vision, values, and goals (i.e.
student achievement, school improvement, staff development).
Potential discrepancy between former principals formal evaluations of staff in
comparison to current principals initial assessments.
Difficulty establishing school-community relationships due to language and cultural
barriers, in addition to families looking to reclaim the past.
Create a success rubric along with this principal. What indicators would you look for and
with what timeline?
Focus Area 1: Improving the Culture in the School
Success Indicators

Timeline

Parent, student, and staff surveys created

December

Informal staff relationship meetings completed

December

Staff Holiday Party

December

Parent, student, and staff surveys deployed, collected, and analyzed

January

Share out survey results to all stakeholders

January

Mission, Vision, Values, and Goal Statements Created

February

Mindfulness Book Study Group Started

February

Monthly Staff Social Events

Staff Team Building Activities Completed (one per month based on survey data)

February-May
March-May

Mindfulness Book Study Culmination Activity - ISD Guest Speaker

May

End of the Year Staff Party

June

Focus Area 2: Systems Implementation

Success Indicators
Walk-Through Schedule Created
Monthly Parent Meeting Schedule and Agendas Created Using Survey Data

Timeline
December
January

Notes from PTA Meetings and Parent Meetings Shared with Staff

January-June

Documentation of Walk-Through Visits Completed

January-June

PLC Professional Learning Sessions- Local ISD Facilitation

Schoolwide Committees Created

Student Data Analysis Training- Hosted by Local ISD (3 sessions)
PLC Schedules Created

January PD Day
March PD Day
May PD Day
February
March-May
February

PLCs Meeting Bi-Monthly

February-June

PLC Agendas Completed and Submitted

February-June

Principal attends PLC meetings

February-June

What do you feel are the most serious challenges to moving forward and how would you help
the principal?
Staffs recognition for a need to improve the culture at the school.
Help Principal Papadapolis develop and deploy a staff perception survey.
Recommend that the principal analyze the data with the staff.
Recommend that the principal share and discuss the student and parent perception
data with the staff.
Cultivating collaborative cultures amongst the staff.
Help the principal plan and implement team building activities to build relational
trust within the staff.
All decisions must reflect the schools mission, vision, values, and goals.
Develop a structure to ensure PLCs are implemented with fidelity.
Beginning to think about and plan for year two.
Address instructional practices and resources needed for improvement (i.e. staff
development and materials)
Address student achievement data with a focus on improving district and state
assessment scores.

References
Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2008). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Fullan, M., & Quinn, J. (2016). Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools,
Districts, and Systems.
Olsen, G. & Fuller, M.L. (2008). Home-school relations: Working successfully with parents
and families (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2013, June 20). What Inspiring Leaders Do. Harvard Business
Review- OnPoint, Fall 2015, 13-14.