SPENCER MUNDEN
Professional Summary
Innovative and passionate School Leader committed to reversing opportunity gap by raising student achievement in urban public schools for more than 10 years. Perpetual faith in phenomenal education that engages, inspires, and elevates ideas to manifest student perception of self; radically reform and recreate education in America.
Occupational Expertise
Quality needs assessment, strategic planning, determination of priorities and task delegation, teacher development, and motivation to exceed goals; consistent follow through and support to ensure continued success.
Team Leadership & Collaboration - Classroom Management - Data Driven Instruction - Data Analysis - Hiring - Instructional Leadership - Creative
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Executive Manager/Instructional Coach 2016 - 2017
Harlem Village Academies Charter Schools
Coached, developed, and managed teachers and leaders to establish foundations for successful classrooms: ambitious vision and goals, purposeful long-term plans and unit plans, rigorous assessments, strong relationships, and positive classroom cultures to support growth. Raised student achievement levels by 39% in less than two months by analyzing and incorporating multiple sources of data to inform my instruction, feedback, and guidance to staff. Supported Chief of Elementary Schools to ensure effective execution and implementation of rigorous school-based curriculum and instructional methodologies were aligned with Common Core State Standards and fostered a culture of practice, reflection, and improvement. Organized, planned, and led data analysis training sessions, team meetings, and assessment cycles for Chief of Elementary Schools, principals, leaders, and teachers on effective academic interventions, rigorous differentiation, and actionable, measurable, and tangible key
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Created classroom environment to observe best teaching practices in order to replicate successful results, develop in-depth understanding of school's design, and increase teacher efficacy. Increased academic achievement of grade teams, planned and delivered network-wide and school content-specific training and development that improved quality of instruction for all students and enhanced teacher lesson planning, data analysis, and classroom management skills. Partnered with other leaders across network; supported principal with decisions regarding school design and oversight: scheduling, staff recruitment and hiring, data analysis, ensuring operational excellence, testing logistics, and behavior systems.
Lead Teacher/Classroom Management Coach 2006 - 2011
Promise Academy Charter Schools
As Classroom Teacher analyzed student achievement data and behavior to build culture, drive immediate and long-term instructional decisions; provided live coaching to teachers on behavior
Ms. Hall has had many years of public education experience and higher education training in which to hone her leadership style and framework. She started her career as a teacher in the Kirkwood School District. She then served as an assistant elementary principal at both Ritenour and Pattonville School Districts before being selected to serve as the assistant superintendent of the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District in 2008. Throughout her career she continued to pursue her education as a means o...
The strength of the education in a community is directly responsible for how strong a community will be in the present and future, as does the efforts parents make in the learning processes of In a quote from Tom Peters, he states that “ leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” Working as a lead administrator in a building can have some powerful challenges, but as with anything, the approach is what makes the difference. A good leader will take advantage of the tools around them, knowing that every building has individuals who offer their very own strengths. In focusing on the individual teacher strengths of each specific teacher, a rapport can be built, but most importantly, the outcome will be a stronger building because of the process of spreading the wealth.
According to standard two of the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (2015), educational leaders should act with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner to promote the success of every student. In the scenario, a new assistant superintendent in a school district is head of curriculum and instruction. The school district services 15 schools, 12 elementary schools and 3 junior high schools. The assistant superintendent has prior experience in a previous school district with curriculum and instruction, but seemed much happier in the new district’s atmosphere. The district seems to be more goal-oriented and focused on the upholding the vision and mission of the district. There is also a strong value on self-evaluation
Shortly after our session began, Dr. Hooper asked us to give a short “elevator speech” designed to provide others with a glimpse of the nature and work of the PLC groups we are leading in our schools and departments. As each of us shared our thoughts, one recurring theme emerged – time. Most students stated finding the time to meet with their PLC was difficult. Some said their PLCs were frequently cancelled. Others indicated they wanted to ensure the PLCs they were leading made the most of teachers’ time. A few shared their creative scheduling tips. As we progressed through the day, we learned that a strong learning organization has effective instructional leaders who develop school and teacher schedules that maximize instructional time and provide educators with job-embedded collaborative professional learning opportunities. Even though administrators are faced with competing initiatives, priorities and the day-to-day demands involved in teaching and leading schools, leaders should make professional learning communities a priority. Vescio’s (2006) review of the literature indicates when teachers participate in learning communities: (1) Student achievement scores improve over time as a result of the focus on student learning; (2) Teaching practice is impacted positively; and (3) Teaching and school culture improve because teachers become more collaborative and empowered. Learning communities can encompass multiple learning levels ranging from a classroom community of learners, to teachers, to parents, multiple schools, and district-level departments. Dr. Hooper shared an effective practice of a school administrator who formed a learning community with his cafeteria workers.
Change is a double-edged sword (Fullan, 2001). Change is a word that might inspire or put fear into people. Leadership is challenging when it comes to dealing with change and how individuals react within the organization to the change. Marzano, McNulty, and Waters (2005) discuss two orders of change in their book School Leadership that Works; first and second. Fullan (2001) also adds to the discussion in his book Leading in a Culture of Change, with regard to understanding change. In Change Leadership, Keagan and Wagner (2006) discuss many factors of change and the systematic approach to change. Change affects people in different ways. Leaders need to be able to respond to the individuals throughout the change process.
Standard 1 of the Florida Principal Leadership Standards (2011) describe the priority of the school leader as, “effective school leaders demonstrate that the student learning is their top priority through leadership actions that build and support a learning organization focus on student success”. Our number one priority and focus is and always should be our students. They are the reason behind our professions. It is the faculty the ones who should be supported by the administrators. The leaders should celebrate their success, encourage them, support their assertive instructional decisions, and motivate them each day to create the right conditions for learning. The principals must plan to project growth the most accurate possible, employing all the help that they could get for this challenging task. Students should not be affected because qualified teachers are not available. Strategic schools use the resources at had to relocate, and alleviate the human resources problems.
(ASCD). Alexandria, VA: Prentice Hall. 10, 18-19. Tomlinson, C. A. (2010). One Kid at a Time. Educational Leadership, 67(5), 12-16.
Huang, T., Beachum, F. D., White, G. P., Kaimal, G., Fitzgerald, A., & Reed, P. (2012). Preparing urban school leaders: What works?. Planning & Changing, 43(1/2), 72-95.
With the passage of NCLB, many school reform efforts have been initiated using top-down model in which each school leaders have been charged with initiating bold administrative changes to address the legislation. With the number of leadership theories and models, researchers have become interested in studying those to determine which might bring forth the most significant results for leading such change. Due to the lack of highly qualified administrators and the increasing demands for administrators, Bush, O’Brien & Spangler (2005) studied a program, the Southern Tier Leadership Academy, a collaborative of the New York Education Department. The study included three separate cohorts who completed an eight month program. Whereas, Somech (2005) chose to investigate directive and participative leadership approaches, and which would more significantly impact school effectiveness. Perhaps Somech’s reflect Scherer’s (2009, p.7) understandings as described in Educational Leadership, ‘broom-wielding leadership can indeed be beneficial’ as is putting advocates into positions of power and influence and building teams, both of which are seemingly contrasting opposites.
The above cited information only discuss what a leader should possess naturally and obligatory. Nevertheless, becoming outstanding leader is another. The article Five educational leader should Traits of a Good Educational Leader (2016) discussed five of the most important characteristics any good educational leader possess and apply in a variety of situations. These includes self aware, excellent communication, resourceful, lead by example and power of teaching and learning.
My goal as an educator is to continually learn, reflect and change my practices in order to ensure all students learn at high levels. As I stated earlier, my initial educational philosophy was behavioral. I was somewhat surprised to find that I still scored the highest in this category on my self-assessment. However, after further reflection and reading B.F. Skinner, I believe that behavioral aspects still have an important role in education today. As an educator I have a moral responsibility to help students learn how to function as members of a classroom community. Skinner believes that the environment of a classroom and school should be as “conducive as possible to students’ learning”. Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports is a model I truly believe in and have used with success with children. Through PBIS, expected behaviors...
...ing used throughout the day. Using these techniques has not only proven to work from an assessment standpoint, but has improved the overall learning of the students. Throughout the day, struggling students receives about ninety minutes on intervention. Being proactive and taking control of a situation is what Mr. Brown does as a principal. Also, data is a big driving force and decision making component at Councill Elementary School. Mr. Brown and his staff use data to point out weaknesses and look for ways to move students towards being successful. Having a firm focus on student achievement and improving the knowledge of teachers have benefited Mr. Brown and his school. Lastly, Mr. Brown has put forth a strong effort investing in the training and improvement of his teachers as they take on the challenges that 21st century students are facing daily.
Everyone knows that when it comes to making a difference in a child’s academic and life achievements, their teachers play a large role. A teacher’s ability to relate to their students, and teach them to achieve both socially and academically contributes to how effective they are. What does it mean to be an effective teacher? Overall there seems to be an emphasis on teacher effectiveness related to how well their students are performing on standardized testing. As teachers we know there is more to being an effective teacher then just teaching our students based on tests. This paper will identify different definitions of an effective teacher along with how to assess teachers on being effective.
With the proper guidance and support, teachers can achieve academic excellence in the classroom. They follow their principal’s vision and share their goals. Teachers also serve as leaders in their classroom. They share their vision and goals with their students promoting positive attitudes in the classroom. Just like it is important for principals to respect and understand what their teachers need, students also need the support, understanding, respect and empathy from their teachers. When teachers demonstrate commitment in the classroom and set high expectations they raise the level of learning in the classroom. Teachers that work with the students and their parents to understand and meet their needs will achieve positive academic outcomes. Students engage in learning with positive attitudes and strive for high achievements. Teachers work together with their leaders to improve their teaching
Our nation’s education system strives through the hard work and dedication of its educators. Often great teachers, principles and supporting staff are drawn to the profession because they possess the desire to empower, inspire, nurture and watch young people grow - not only academically, but also emotionally. These people are there because they want to make an impact upon our society and the lives of whom the reach. Highly effective teachers are those who have taken learning to new heights by accelerating student learning, closing achievement gaps that persisted for decades, and promoting a mindset of change. Moreover, the presence of highly effective teachers in classrooms today continues to manifest as a result of the support from strong school leaders (U.S. Department of Education, 2013).