Benchmark Assignment

Without Data, It’s Only an Opinion: A School Development Plan

Sara Torres

August 4, 2014

Abstract

One of the biggest challenge that schools are facing is how to increase the amount of parent involvement. Research has shown that parental involvement increases student achievement, however increasing parent involvement means building stronger parent teacher relationships. The major factors that might prevent parents from participating in their children’s school is their beliefs of the importance of getting involved and their perception of what they think the school and their child believes of them getting involved. This paper presents the development of goals and activities that Public School 128 designed to increase parent engagement within the school.

School leaders in the twenty first century have an increased amount of responsibilities that they need to be able to do deal with on a daily basis to manage an effective school system. School leaders must be able to assume accountability and be able to effectively communicate continuous changes within the school system to all stakeholders. Leaders must take the lead in setting clear goals, establishing plans to achieve those goals, using data to monitor progress regularly and adjusting plans accordingly for the success of the school (Guskey, 2007). They need to be able to collaborate and empower stakeholders to support and assist in implementing the school’s vision. The purpose of this paper is to provide an outline of the process my school used to develop and implement goals for the School’s Continuous Development Plan.

Plan

Effective educational leaders are able to build strong relationships with all stakeholders within their school building and beyond their school’s building walls. They are able to effectively empower their staff by creating teams that will allow them to participate in the decision making processes for the betterment of the school. According to Floyd & Dotson (2012) by developing...