Management and the Standards

Looking back at the administrator standards I really felt that management had a strong connection with a couple administrator standards.  Naturally, it could be considered that management is connected in a way with all of these standards.  To me I thought it would take an excellent manager to truly meet and exceed the third and fourth standards.

Standard 3-- A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by ensuring management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

A good administrator is always one step ahead of the game.  Issues are taken care of before they become issues.  This person has exercised their leadership abilities to make sure those delegated to certain responsibilities are meeting or exceeding expectations.  A good manager does not feel the need and should not feel the need to "do it all".  They do however need to have the right people in place in the right positions.  An example would be having a positive and trusting relationship with the custodial staff.  Students deserve to have a safe and clean environment to learn in.  Another example may be before and after school routines.  Setting expectations for where students need to be and go can eliminate potential safety concerns.  The final example I thought of when I saw the word "safe" in the standard was the ability to monitor and maintain positive student to student relationships.  Students deserve to feel safe and respected by all stakeholders in the school and will not learn effectively until this is the norm.

Standard 4: A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students by collaborating with families and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs and mobilizing community resources.

It is important to have the support of families and communities as a building administrator.  With all stakeholders on board so much more can be accomplished.  It is however not just enough to have relationships with community members.  Administrators need to work to build healthy, strong relationships with these stakeholders.  From a management aspect it may be easier to delegate some of these duties such as fundraising meetings but you need to be careful to show that these things are important because they are.  Things will not always (or ever it seems) go according to plan.  It is important to have plans and act as the calm and controlled front.  One of the biggest learning points in class came from the crisis situation responses.  It was not so much that I learned exactly what to do in these situations but just the motivation to think as many of these scenarios out before they actually occur.  An administrator is the role model for the school and community and this alone can sometimes determine the progress a community will allow you to make.