Field Experience

Through my internship, I have come to find that school administrators are a personification of a school organization’s culture.  The role of special education director is a collaborative position, navigating relationships and duties with other administrators.  If not navigated carefully, this role can be misconstrued as “at odds” with the goals of other administrators within the organization. This is counterproductive for the whole organization.  Throughout my internship, common themes presented themselves which I have come to believe are essential to the success of a leader in this role; common mission, common values, foresight, and commitment to people.   

Southern Minnesota Education Consortium (SMEC) is comprised of seven member school districts in southern Minnesota; Alden, Glenville-Emmons, Grand Meadow, Kingsland, LeRoy, Lyle and Southland.  Created by a joint-powers from each district, the purpose of the consortium was to address issues of these smaller districts successfully meeting the needs of their special education students in their own communities.  My employment and internship with SMEC includes working with and in each of these seven school districts and their special education staff and administrative teams.  Each of the seven districts have their own principals, superintendents, school boards, and communities that SMEC administrators, specifically the Executive Director and Special Education Coordinator, have the opportunity to collaborate with. Throughout my internship, I began to analyze my experiences and skills through Bolman and Deal’s four frames (structural, human resources, political and symbolic) in order to develop my measurement for personal growth and proficiency.

SMEC

  School leaders must always be looking to the future, planning and assessing for resource requirements that may come based on students, staffing and structural needs.  During my internship with SMEC, I was able to be a part of a number of discussions, planning sessions, and presentations regarding facility needs.  As SMEC member districts grow, absorbing students from larger districts in the surrounding areas, the needs for space, resources, and other environmental issues need to addressed (A5, B2, B6, G1).  Specifically, the level three programs housed in each district (DCD, ASD, EBD, early childhood and transition) were requiring additional space. In the process of touring and evaluating community properties to house possible programming for level four and transition programs, I was able to work with district communities to share SMEC vision and values, as well as local businesses (Limb Labs) to collaborate on transition programming partnerships (C3, G1, G4, G6, C6). 

SMEC as an organization has a vast and complex group of stakeholders, spanning the seven districts/school boards and administrative teams, three different Minnesota counties and even more local communities.  Foundational to effectively collaborating and functioning with these stakeholders is communication.  During the acquisition of a number of community properties, I was able to attend city council meetings to speak to stakeholders regarding the purpose of SMEC, its partnership in serving their district students with special needs and beyond and its value as an employer in their communities (G5, G6).

School leaders must invest in their staff and their hopes and dreams for their careers.  I had the opportunity to participate in the contract negotiations for hourly staff, including the first 12-month contract for non-licensed personnel. SMEC was able retain staff through the summer, allowing opportunities for continued learning and training for staff and increased summer programming for all SMEC member district students (B3, I2).  In addition to 12-month contracts, I was able to assist in the initial year of the “Grow Your Own” grant legislation from the state, partnering with the University of St. Thomas to provide Tier 4 licensed teachers with coursework to complete their special education licensure (I4).   

The SMEC Education Center is a new facility in the area and houses our level 4 and Alternative Learning Center programs.  Symbolically, it serves as a melting pot for some of the highest-need students from the seven districts and a symbol of successfully collaboration between the consortium stakeholders to address and meet area needs.  Over the year of my internship, I was able participate in the first phase addition of the building, adding space and facilities for curriculum and course-work to benefit students, partnering with local community and technical colleges.

Identifying and addressing curriculum needs is a collaborative effort in a school district.  During my internship, I was able to spearhead a curriculum purchase that fulfills the needs of students requiring replacement learning in level three and four programs in areas other than identified IEP goals (science, social studies, elective courses).  I addition, I was able to pilot with program staff a new Social Emotional Learning curriculum, Be Good People, align it to our learning plans for students and implement with staff members.

SMEC Academy General Education

Annually, SMEC provides a three-week long SMEC Academy for all students K-5 in member districts.  As a member of the SMEC Academy planning team, I was able to assist with course planning, budget and funding, registration and was the building administrator for the final week of the program.  In addition, I developed the SMEC Academy pamphlet for disbursement by member districts.  In September of this year, SMEC was recognized by Commissioner Willie Jett for this successful summer programing (A3, B5, C3).

Glenville-Emmons/Southland School Districts

Each member district, as part of the joint-powers agreement, is responsible for housing a SMEC level three program serving students with specific higher-needs from each of the districts.  Glenville-Emmons and Southland Pre-K-12 school districts house the level three Emotional and Behavioral Disorders programs.  In addition to SMEC, my internship included experiences in each of these districts, their Child-Study meetings, handbook development and due process/student services needs (A1, C4, E3).  Working in coordination with principals and superintendents in these districts through my internship, I was able to assist with Child Find early interventions and programming options.  In addition to this, I was able to assist with beginning of the year staff-development opportunities for these district staff.  As a trainer in Crisis Prevention Intervention, Ukeru, Life Space Crisis Intervention, De-escalation and Conscious Discipline, I had the opportunity to share the mission of SMEC in our member districts as well as relationship build with building stakeholders, investing in their career paths and learning.

It was in these two districts that I experienced the most drastic difference in leadership styles and the corresponding effectiveness of each.  The importance of humility and relationships that are based in collaboration rather than confrontation are evident in the interactions between staff and administration and the trickle-down effect of these complex relationships eventually affect students and creating a Little Shop of Horrors culture.  Alternatively, the managerial style of the other school leader created a Family culture in the building, felt by all those who enter. 

Handbook development is also an essential collaboration between stakeholders.  My internship afforded me the opportunity to assist in developing a district handbook, in accordance with state legislative requirements.  I was also able to assist the various SMEC programs with the development of program-specific handbooks for appendixes within the SMEC handbook (A2, B1). 

Restrictive procedures and student discipline has become a hot button issues for schools around the nation and received legislative attention over the last session.  I was also able to work with Department Leads and administration in all SMEC districts in the re-development of the SMEC Restrictive Procedures Plan.  As the administration for special education for all seven districts, SMEC is responsible for all training, documenting and reporting of special education student discipline and ALL student restrictive procedures.  My role, following development of this plan, was to lead all debrief sessions and provide documentation for each instance SMEC-wide.  Often, this would allow me to utilize conflict resolution skills and stakeholder perspective-taking in order to allow each of these stressful interactions to end with a shared feeling of understanding, preparedness and mission/values (L1, L2).

Areas of Strength and Acquisition

Looking through the four lenses, I have identified the lenses of structural and political as my areas of improvement and human resource and symbolic as my strengths. I had a variety of experiences in which each lens held a different level of significance.  Each perspective of leadership has value and the existence of all four illustrate the need for an administration team. The board room of the SMEC Education Center serves as the District Office.  The make-up of this room and the personnel have come to illustrate to me the make-up of an effective administrator.  The Executive Director sits on one side of the long table, his yellow legal-pads filled with task lists and notes strewn about.  On his left is the desk of his Finance Director, his right brain and “truth-teller”.  On his right is the Human Resources Director, his heart and person-centered leader.  They are the heart and soul “triad” of SMEC and while I know I have things to learn, I am comfortable with and open to the expertise and perspective of others. 

Reflective Conclusion

In the course of my internship, I had the opportunity to work with and observe twenty-four different administrators in different capacities.  I encountered various leadership styles, conflict resolution styles and change-making styles.  I was able to observe what works and what doesn’t for staff and students, as well as develop a style of my own.  Even more importantly, through the internship and corresponding course-work, I have been afforded the opportunity to ground myself in values and a mission that is appropriate for the perpetuation of a culture that benefits students, staff and communities.  In each organization I was able to intern, the value of relationship set the tone for the building(s).  Effective leaders have willing and able followers, inspire in them faith and trust as well as self-motivation and empowerment.  “But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).