School Personnel Administration and Instructional Supervision

School Personnel Administration: What is Administration and Who are the Personnel?

Generally, preparation programs remain segmented in topical categories such as finance, leadership, law, curriculum, and yes, personnel. Life does not proceed that way, nor does the day-to-day job of a school administrator. Administrators seldom have the luxury of segmenting their day and spending one hour strictly on legal issues and then the next on student issues, curriculum, or personnel concerns. All these topics are intertwined in the fast-paced administrative problem-solving and decisionmaking processes of the day. For university programs to relate more closely to actual administrative practice there should be an integration of topics across the curriculum and the incorporation of actual field experience assignments throughout the program, as opposed to only the use of case studies in the classroom setting, or when a student is assigned to an internship in a local school or district upon completion of required program coursework (Beyer, 2009).

Structure of This Course

Yes, there will be lots of reading and assignments in the field, BUT, a major unique and different component will be the series of “field studies and activities” targeting the purpose of providing you with a realistic practice field rather than the common procedure of immersing our certified administrators into the performance field and wish them good luck. Here are a list of class components that will help you conceptualize and understand “where we are going, and why?”

Class Structure

• All class materials and assignments will be here in Connexions.
• Each week’s materials will include Class Objectives.
• Each week’s materials will include Class Assignments.
• A total of five (5) field studies/activities will be required.
•  Weekly class sessions will alternate between Face-To-Face classes and WebEx
  Meetings on Line. **

What is a WebEx Meeting Online?

• Launch a meeting from any MS Office application.
• Minimize travel expenses.
• Video and Audio conferencing.
• Instructor emails a convenient call-in number to each participant.
• Students can participate from home or office.
• Share your desktop content or applications with up to 15 attendees, and allow others to share theirs.
• Equipment needed -phone and computer.
• Each participant pays for their phone charge.

More About Required Field Studies/ Activities

• The course requires five (5) independent field studies.
• Essentially, one every other week, with the fifth one given an extended period of time to complete and which will serve as the Final Exam.
• In addition to completing each field study, you will receive a peer review from one of your cohort members.
• Each member of the cohort peer reviews five separate field studies throughout the semester and must submit them on the same deadline that the field study is due.
• BOTH the student turning in the assigned field study and the peer reviewer receives a grade.
• The student’s grade for the field study will be a combination of the instructor’s review and the peer review.