Field Experience III

In Field Experience III, we visited an elementary school in a nearby county. The school is located in a rural area where industry and big business does not provide the schools with lots of revenue. In the recent years, change had occurred. More subdivisions have developed in the area bringing more tax money as well as children. These children are seeking a quality education. The leaders of county and schools wanted to assess the credibility of their leaders to see how effective they are in running these schools. We had a leader, 2 moderators and 2 scribes that switched at different intervals during the focus group session. (The leader never changed positions.) We traveled to the elementary school to conduct a focus group on the participants' perspectives on the extent to which the Six Core Components of Learning-Centered Leadership. Another facet to the focus group was the participants’ feelings on Professional Learning Circles initiative. The fifteen person focus groups were broken into two equally divided groups where each group met with a moderator and a scribe that facilitated the group. The focus group sessions took place for forty-five minutes. During this forty-five minute period the focus group participants were questioned on specific topics that relate to school accountability and performance as it related to the Six Core Components of Learning-Centered Leadership. Being the leader of the focus group was interesting. I was able to migrate from group to group to insure order and consistency occurred. I got a chance to hear the various responses from teachers and really see how some differed as others stayed the same. At times teachers became personal with the remarks and really stood up for their school and the core values they possessed. That was the most remarkable part, they truly believe in their school system, but did not mention how their leaders played a role in their school. Most of the responses related back to the teachers and what they do to attain success for the school. My team members did a wonderful job with controlling the focus groups. They asked probing questions and facilitated conversation even when the participants did not want to speak. They stayed on task. I truly thank them for their hard work and enjoyed the team dynamic we had for this assignment. Many thanks to them and I look forward to working with them on future projects.

Field Experience I

Going to a middle school in my county of employment was a wonderful experience to learn about the PGPP-T. The PGPP-T is defined as the Professional Growth Performance Plan for teachers. As an assistant principal it was eye opening to learn how teachers who piloted the program really felt. The stated how it was wonderful to have a tool that keeps both administrators and teachers accountable in the evaluation process. We had two perspective doctoral candidates as moderator and scribe for this focus group. The moderator and scribe had to switch positions during the focus group session. It gave each person a different role in the focus group. The experience was intense when we asked in depth questions. We probed deeper to get some teachers who were shy or did not want to speak an opportunity to express their concerns about the PGPP-T. We made sure that we did not ask any leading questions, but the questions we asked allowed us to gain the necessary data that we needed. I felt we both did great jobs as moderators and scribes. As for me, I wanted to get a feel for who these teachers were and was the information given genuine or fluff. The more we dialogued in the focus group the more I learned. It was a great experience and I enjoyed visiting this middle school in the county. The only mistake or glitch in this process was that we taped the focus group session, but we had no sound. We will do a voice over to provide audio. Just Kidding!!!

Focus Group 1

The focus group conducted at Bailey Bridge Middle School by Thomas Ferrell Jr. and myself was very eye opening. We had a chance to speak with teachers abut the PGPP-T. The Professional Growth Performance Plan for teachers. The teachers were very candid on how the felt and it was very impressive to see how passionate they were about process. Most people in Chesterfield County Public Schools are afraid to participate in the program as they are to well versed on how to use it. The teachers at Bailey Bridge Middle School were fortunate to pilot the program. They say when they first started, they were frightened. The acronym, PGPP-T or as the eloquently call it the "P-Diddy" was frightening. They were not sure of what to do and the name just made them want to run. Once they started working with the program and really shared information with their fellow colleagues as they all are going through the process was comforting. Now they see how valuable of a tool it is and how it makes school administrators and personnel accountable. All are held to a high standard. Thomas and myself enjoyed being able to learn more about this program as we will introduce the same program to our faculty this year. None of the participants were afraid to speak and they really wanted to be heard on issues concerning their schools.