Dani Davis

P5

April 3, 2004

Interview Summary One

1. Date of interview: January 22, 2004

2. Name of individual interviewed: David Ginsberg

3. Title of individual interviewed: Principal

4. Length of interview: 30 minutes

5. Location of interview: Classroom #1 at Flint Southwestern Academy

6. Detailed Description of interview:

Q: “How long have you worked at Southwestern Academy?”

A: “I was hired to replace Dean Randals who retired last year. I started working for this school last year, but I have been a principal in this district for five years.”

Q: “What did you do before that?”

A: “I was the principal at Central High School and before that I coached basketball at CMU.”

Q: “What is your definition of staff development?”

A: “That covers a very wide range of activities. I see staff development as anything that equips teachers and administrators to better educate and serve our student population.”

Q; “How do you view the staff development sessions of our school this year?”

A: “Staff development has taken many forms this year. The PD days at the beginning of the year help to get teacher back into the mind-set of teaching, which is important. I was also pleased by the number of people who took time to present at our sessions. However, the thing that most surprises me is the number of personal who request to attend outside seminars and classes. It is great that this staff takes charge of their own profession growth.”

Q: “What do you hope teachers get out of staff development?”

A: “I hope that they come away with information or skills that prove to benefit them as they fulfill their job responsibilities.”

Q: “What do you hope that teachers will gain from staff development involving technology?”

A: “I would like to see all teachers using technology to enhance their teaching. Also, teachers need to gain the skills which will enable them to prepare students for the future. Workplaces of all kinds use technology in one capacity or another.”

Q: “When should staff development take place? After school, during the day, weekends? Why?”

A: “It is written into the contracts that all of our staff development will take place during school hours and the students will be given the day off. Teachers are very busy with other responsibilities. It would not be fair to my staff members to expect them to commit to additional time before or after school.”

Q: “What types of staff development opportunities do you feel school principals should take part in to become more technology literate?”

A: “Principals should be literate in all of the administrative software that the school uses. Also, principals need to be literate in all commonly used classroom applications. School leaders should be literate in all of the applications that they expect the teacher who work with them to know. I always try to lead by example.”

Q: “What support do you give your staff after a technology staff development session?”

A: “We use questionnaires to determine how useful the session was to them. Also, our technology committee is very helpful when it comes to answering any questions that the staff may have regarding new software or hardware that we are going to be using. We even have teachers who come to classroom to fix computer problems. There is also the MIS help desk the teachers can call if they are encountering problems during school hours.”

Q: “Will people from the help desk come to the school if teachers need more assistance?”

A: “Yes, but they always try to correct the problems over the phone first. Then, if the problem is not taken care of they will schedule an appointment for an on site visit.” Usually they come within three to four days of the telephone call.”

Q: “what type of budget do you have for teachers to attend state and national conferences to extend their professional development opportunities?”

A: “Flint schools are allotted money for professional development opportunities based on enrollment. This year, we were given $16,000 total to spend on staff development. There is no set dollar amount allocated for state and national conferences. After we have our eight school wide professional development days, the remainder of the money is divided among the departments. Then, it is distributed on a first come first serve basis.”

Q: “Do you feel that attending state and national conferences is important feature of offering staff development in your building? Why?”

A: “Absolutely! Getting ideas and knowledge from outside sources is a great resource for the school staff. Learning practices that have been successful for others, and then adapting them to fit our school culture and students’ needs, only helps to enrich our school environment.”

Q: “Do you offer staff development opportunities to students and parents?”

A: “Yes, on occasion we offer student and parents opportunities to attend conferences that we feel will benefit either the family as a whole or the individual students.”

Q: “What is your philosophy on opening up staff development sessions to community members and students?”

A: “I welcome the input of our parents, students, and community as a whole. Earlier this year, our building hosted a town meeting to discuss the state of our district and the city of Flint. Due to the financial crisis in flint, budget cuts must be made and some schools will have to be closed. Parents, students, staff, and members of the community were all invited to speak in regards to the three proposed budget cut plans that were presented. A group of students even presented a argument that Flint Central High School should not be close because it qualifies as a historic landmark. Their points were well researched and impressive.”

Q: “Do you or your staff have a say in what types of staff development opportunities they wish to have offered?”

A: “Yes, the staff is free to email me any ideas they may have for staff development meetings. Many times staff members make request for additional school wide training during staff meetings. We have even had requested presenters who have shared ideas with us at our staff meetings.”

D: “Thanks for your time.”

P: “Anytime.”

7. My Reaction

Mister Ginsberg has a very positive view of his staffs’ professional development experiences. He seems willing to hear input from his co-workers and then to implement staff development opportunities that address their needs.

The principal also shows the willingness to learn from others’ successes and failure. He does this in the hope of providing an active learning environment, while attempting to avoid any unnecessary pitfalls. It shows great strength of character to have a leader who is willing to learn from others who may or may not hold the same position as he does.

I also agree with Ginsberg when he encourages increased involvement of staff, parents, students, and members of the community in many staff development activities. This approach to learning fosters an environment of interdependence and teamwork, thereby, ensuring the academic and emotional growth of our students.

Interview Summary Two

1. Date of interview: March 7, 2004

2. Name of individual interviewed: Dee Smith

3. Title of individual interviewed: Classroom Science teacher

4. Length of interview: 20 minutes

5. Location of interview: Telephone

6. Detailed Description of interview:

Q: “How long have you worked at Southwestern Academy?”

A: “16 years.”

Q: “What did you do before that?”

A: “I worked at another school, teaching high school.”

Q: “What is your definition of staff development?”

A; “Workshops that will help teachers do better in the classroom.”

Q; “How do you view the staff development sessions of our school this year?”

A: “We haven’t had enough of them. The ones we have had were okay, but we have not had enough.”

Q: “What else would you like to see in staff development?”

A: “Technology software that can be used with students. Digital cameras and whatever else is out there.”

Q: “What do you hope teachers get out of staff development?”

A: “Information that I could use to teach kids technology in the classroom.”

Q: “When should staff development take place? After school, during the day, weekends? Why?”

A: “days should be set aside through the year, as we work with the kids. So, we can take what we have learned back to the kids and teach it. Also, it should be offered in the summer time too.”

Q: “What types of staff development opportunities do you feel school classroom teachers should take part in to become more technology literate?”

A: “As many as they can, especially with computers in the business world, teachers should try to take part.”

Q: “What support do you as a staff member get after a technology staff development session?”

A: “Not much, there is no follow-up or anything.”

Q: “Will people from the help desk come to the school if teachers need more assistance?”

A: “No, you can call them, but they will not come.”

Q: “what type of budget do teachers have to attend state and national conferences to extend their professional development opportunities?”

A: “Not much or none.”

Q: “Do you feel that attending state and national conferences is important feature of offering staff development at Flint Southwestern Academy? Why?”

A: “Yes, because it give you new information about what is going on and offer the opportunity to network, this is important.”

Q: “Do you feel that your school offers staff development opportunities to students and parents?”

A: “No.”

Q: “What is your philosophy on opening up staff development sessions to community members and students?”

A: “I think it should be opened up to parents and students so that they can know what is going on in the school, if nothing else.”

Q: “Do you, as a classroom teacher, have a say in what types of staff development opportunities you wish to have offered?”

A: “Yes, very much so, at least half a day of it, but things are changing because of No Child Left Behind. We used to have a say.”

D: “Thanks.”

P: “You’re welcome. See you later”

7. My Reaction

I agree with Dee that there should be more follow-up and accountability for using what we have learned in our staff development sessions. Although there are people willing to assist classroom teacher with implementing new practices in the classroom, there are no real required activities to ensure that the new technology or information is being utilized.

All of our school wide staff development training occurs within the first half of the year. Like Dee, I feel there is a need for more training. This training should be more evenly distribute through the school year. We would be able to more quickly address needs that arise toward the end of the year, rather than waiting until the following year. By waiting we are doing a disservice to our current students.

I disagree with Dee when looking at the technical support that our staff receives from MIS. Although the support staff prefers to handle as many technical questions over the phone as possible, they have come to my classroom to ghost my machine and install Novell networking software.

Dee brings up an interesting point in regards to state and national conferences being a great opportunity for teachers to network with one another. There are benefits to networking that are often overlooked. Learning new ideas, making new contacts in the professional arena, and seeing what is going on outside of your own corner of the educational world, expands a teacher knowledge base. There may be an opportunity for teacher in Flint to implement some of the best practices of a teacher from California.

Comparing/contrasting

When I interviewed these staff members, both of them similarly defined staff development. Ginsberg stated that staff development was, “anything that equips teachers and administrators to better educate and serve our student population.” This shows that Ginsberg feels that the primary focus should be on training that will ultimately improve student achievement. Likewise, Dee defines staff development as, “Workshops that will help teachers do better in the classroom.” Students achieve more in the classroom when teacher strive for higher professional achievement.

Also, both Mister Ginsberg and Ms. Smith feel that the staff is asked what topics should be covered in the staff development sessions. This is an important point because it shows that the staff is aware that their principal is considering their needs when developing training sessions. It also helps to guarantee great audience participation because the topics being discussed are of interest and relevance to the teachers.

Dee Smith has a very different view of professional development in our school than the Principal does. She feels that there is not enough follow-up activities transpiring, after the initial professional development training session, whereas Principal Ginsberg is of the opinion that the surveys and in-school staff in conjunction with the MIS help desk staff, provide ample support and follow-up to staff development training seminars. I tend to agree with Dee, although support is readily available, there is no monitoring of how the training given is being used in the classroom setting.

Dee also feels that there needs to be greater parent, student, and community participation in our professional development activities, where Mister Ginsberg seems pleased with the current level of outside involvement. I am pleased with the number of parents I see attending IEP meetings for their children with special needs, but I do not see many parents attending staff development training sessions. I do not believe that the community is invited very often. All staff development training should be open to the public, whom we serve. Even though we have adequate community involvement there is always room for improvement.

Possible Explanation of Responses

The principal tends to see what is happening as a whole within the school. He approves every professional development activity the staff attends. He is also required to participate in and oversee many more activities than a classroom teacher. Therefore, simply by the nature of his responsibilities, he is aware of all training activities undergone by his staff members. He was answering the questions based in the school as a whole rather than a classroom teacher within one department of the school. Likewise, because the principal is in charge of the entire building it is entirely possible that staff development concerns within specific departments may be mistakenly overlooked.

The classroom teacher has been working in the same department day after day for sixteen years. She is acutely aware of all of the benefits and shortcomings of the staff development training within her department. For Example; it seems that the science department where she works might benefit from more hands-on technology training that would enhance students’ understanding of fundamental science concepts. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have the professional development committee comprised of the department chairpersons, to ensure that everyone is equally represented.

Interview Summaries

David Ginsberg, Principal

Mister Ginsberg views staff development as a means to “equip teachers” with the tools necessary to impart knowledge to the students. Providing them with the skills needed to be productive members of society.

The principal believes the technology training that the staff has received should be used to farther enrich the lives of the students. He, along with the classroom teacher, would love to see more technology training taking place, and more technology being put to use in the classroom environment.

In Ginsberg’s eyes, parental involvement is seen as essential to the growth of students as life-long learners. He wishes for the community to become involved in the decisions concerning the financial state of our district. Also, Ginsberg would like to see even more outside involvement in our school’s staff development activities.

Principal Ginsberg encourages staff input concerning topics for staff development activities. He also encourages staff members to attend state and national conferences. His hope is that the knowledge and ideas gained at these conferences will then be transferred and generalized into the learning environment of Flint Southwestern Academy.

Dee Smith, Classroom Science Teacher

Ms. Smith views staff development as a means to help the teachers “do better in the classroom.” The better we train our teachers in technology and all other areas, the more they are able to assist our students in achieving their future goals and dreams.

Dee feels there needs to be more professional development opportunities, particularly in the areas of technology as it relates to the business world. She would like to receive training in the more advanced hardware, as well as any other applications that are beneficial to the classroom teacher. She seems to be somewhat disappointed in the current level of technology training offered by our school.

Like Ginsberg, Smith views parental and community involvement in staff development activities as an important element in the academic growth of our students. In her opinion, outside input is not invited nearly often enough. In fact, unlike Ginsberg, she went so far as to say that outside input was not asked for at all.

While Dee Smith concurs that the staff is asked for their input regarding staff development activities, she does not feel that there is enough money set aside for state and national conferences. Ms Smith views this as a shortfall, because she would use these opportunities to get ideas and ‘network” with fellow educators. She would like to do this in order to gain the knowledge necessary to better serve her students.