School Organization and Administration Syllabus

EDLE 5013 School Organization and Administration Syllabus

John Pijanowski

 (575-7019) (jpijanow@uark.edu) (104 Peabody Hall)

General Course Information

 General Course Information

Description: A performance-based study and analysis of the structure and organization of the American public education system including the fundamental principles of school management and leadership.

Purpose of the Course:  The course, EDLE 5013, is intended to provide students with an overview of organization and management theory which will form the framework for sound organizational and school management practice.  Accomplishing this will demand extensive reading in educational administration literature, observations of a school setting, review of school artifacts, and interviews with practicing K-12 school leaders.

Required Course Materials: Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership 6th Edition by Lee G. Bolman  (Author), Terrence E. Deal (Author)

Case studies and articles will either be linked on the course website or available for download from the blackboard course site. 

Academic Honesty:  The University of Arkansas Academic Honesty Policy for Graduate Students can be found here.

Inclement Weather Policy:  The general policy regarding inclement weather is that the University typically stays open regardless of bad weather. In the event of weather disrupting an online class I will do my best to post a notification on the course website.

Accommodations: Information about the Center for Educational Access can be found at www.cea.uark.edu. Please do not hesitate to contact the center or me with questions or concerns about the services available to you.

Course Assignments and Grading                                        

Attendance and participation: Each student is responsible for joining class discussions on time and prepared to participate. 

Missed assignments, make-up policy: Late work will be accepted with a credit deduction of 10% for each day (not class meeting) late.  If you are absent the day an assignment is due, please make arrangements to have someone bring it in for you or email it to me by the due date to ensure full credit.  Please see me individually if you have special concerns or circumstances.

Major Assignments: In order to receive a passing grade for the course, you need to complete all the assignments in a satisfactory manner.

1.     Journal entries (7 journals at 10 points each)                            70     

2.     School Culture Audit                                                                         20

3. Zoom meeting attendance 10

Total Points                                                                                               100 points

School Culture Audit

Assignment description: This assignment is drawn from the work of Peterson and Deal in their book, Shaping School Culture. The field book can be found through this link and will be a valuable resource for you as you complete this assignment. Are there consistent patterns in the views of what is a valued mission in the school? Are there broad differences?Are there deep purposes (such as authentic learning) or narrow goals (for example, improving reading scores)? It is not easy to uncover these often hidden aspects of the culture. But there are several ways leaders can try to identify the core values, beliefs, norms, and assumptions. Over the course of several school visits document and reflect on the following:

• What are your school’s traditions, and what meaning do they have for faculty, students, and community? 

• Walk the hallways when everyone is gone, and reflect on what the walls say about what is really important.

• What are the school’s symbols and artifacts? Where are they displayed and used? What do they mean?

• How are new teachers acknowledged in faculty meetings? How are they introduced?

• How are students greeted when they arrive at school? When they transition to different activities or classrooms?

• Does your school have significant rituals for the major transitions during the year: as school begins, after winter break, at the end of the year? Testing periods? What are they like? 

• What are all the ceremonies at your school? What message, value, or norm do the ceremonies communicate and reinforce?

• What key artifacts, artwork, posters, or other relics do you find in the main office? What messages do they communicate?

Determining what aspects of the culture to keep and celebrate and what aspects to transform or change is key to maintaining a strong, professional culture. One way to approach this is to conduct an “educational garage sale” in which you select aspects of the school to store, get rid of, or keep in use.

Class Participation and Attendance:  All class members are expected to actively participate both individually and in group-based activities.  Class time includes a mix of lectures and independent work but it is designed to include a great deal of student work as well.   In some cases you will be asked to complete work that is not graded but supports online discussions or other projects.

Regular and punctual online participation is expected for all classes. Students must be well prepared for each day, having

(a)        read the chapter(s) and readings assigned

(b)   completed assignments

Constructive participation in the class discussions, written work and other activities is expected. Students are expected to:

(a)        contribute interesting, insightful comments

(b)   present examples of concepts relevant to discussion topics

(c)          paraphrase and build on comments of others

(d)           raise good questions

(e)          listen and respond appropriately to others

Positive participation: The student regularly contributes to class discussion and fully participates in activities, with sensitivity to classmates and value of the equal participation of all. Comments add to the learning experience, are connected to both the readings and the student’s relevant outside experiences. Student reads the text, and is prepared with notations to contribute.

Negative participation: The student contributes to class discussion infrequently or rarely, and/or does not value and respect the contributions of classmates. Comments do not add to the learning being undertaken by the class as a whole. Does not fully participate or contribute to group activities. Comments are not connected to the readings and isolated to outside experiences only. Student does not read the text, and is not prepared to contribute.

Cooperative Activities: Opportunities will be provided for learners to work on cooperative activities with peers that will encompass hands-on, inquiry based real life scenarios.

 a)   Provide realistic experiences in various principal roles (with opportunities to compare responses, experiences, etc.)

 b)   Practice skill development (with peer and instructor feedback).

Grades will be determined on the following basis using a 100 point scale:

A   90-100                   C      70-79          F      below 65

B   80-89                 D     65-69