1

Reflection for CAPE Standards

Olivia Wong

EDUA 591 Advanced Practicum

Professor Tanya Tarbutton

School of Education, Concordia University Irvine

January 29, 2021

 2

Reflection for CAPE Standards

The California Administrator Performance Expectations (CAPE) reflect the

responsibilities and leadership goals of an effective leader within California schools. As the

conditions of our schools continue to evolve, we must seek a balance of maintaining these

guiding principles and infuse them into the work we do when serving our students.

Personal Reflection

As I reflect on the CAPE standards, I am reminded of my mission in becoming an

educator. I was the first in my family to attend college. Graduating with a degree and teaching

credential was a huge accomplishment for me, and my family, at the time. Now, with this new

opportunity of gaining my Administrative Credential, I continue to carry this feeling of gratitude

and appreciation for the people that have influenced my life and supported me to this moment in

my career. The CAPE standards have highlighted for me all that is encompassing of a strong

leader and reference all the components that I will continue to work on as I enter the new phase

of my career in Education.

CAPE 1 Development & Implementation of a Shared Vision

In my current role as a Teacher on Special Assignment (TSA), I have been at the

forefront of working with teachers and stakeholders in developing opportunities for data-

informed initiatives. I have utilized our mission and vision to explain how our school fits into

the larger goal of the district and connected information from the district to our school site.

Teachers at my site have engaged in cycles of learning and inquiry based on goals set by

leadership teams. It was clear that teachers needed to participate in identifying strengths and

weaknesses in our instructional program. CAPE 1 gave me the opportunity to practice

 3

facilitating these types of conversations with staff, grade level teams, stakeholders, and the

community.

CAPE 2 Instructional Leadership

I found that I am extremely comfortable coaching fellow teachers through the California

Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP). I had an opportunity to do this directly through

our New Teacher Induction Program while working through this practice in my administrative

credential program. This was a great way for me to reflect and refine my skill set in monitoring

and aligning goals for new classroom teachers. The CalAPA Cycle also aligned to this CAPE

and was right within my comfort zone. I learned that relationships with teachers is at the

foundation to any shared vision. Schmoker (1999) pointed out that the impact doesn’t have to be

dramatic; incremental improvements are the real building blocks of change. I recognize the

importance of working with staff in developing their skills along side them makes a great impact

in their teaching. I have practiced cycles of observation by working closely with two teachers

and leading them through student learning and lesson planning reflections. I feel this work is the

most important because it directly impacts our students. This also provided the opportunity for

grade levels to come together to research content standards and implement best practices for their

students. One memorable moment was when Concordia invited Anthony Muhammad to speak at

one of our symposiums. This was the second time I heard his presentation and it helped to

solidify my beliefs in leading a team. I have used the Professional Learning Community (PLC)

model and plan to continue this work as I move into an administrative position.

CAPE 3 Management and Learning Environment

Within this CAPE is the expectations of operations and resource management, managing

organizational systems and human resources, school climate, and managing the school budget
 4

and personnel. My principal was able to support me in several of these areas by meeting with

me weekly to answer my questions and discussing available resources. He was supportive of my

finding opportunities that would allow me to learn more outside of our organization. We

collaborated on several initiatives that targeted our school climate and culture. I worked closely

with our PBIS team to support campaigns and goals in responding to our students’ needs. Having

more in-depth discussions with my principal led me to participating in our District Network

meetings. In these meetings, I was able to learn more about the management side of the

principal’s role. I was able to gain more insight about our school budget and expenditures.

Although I feel that I need more support in this arena, I know that my foundational knowledge of

school resources and mobilization of school team will be a help in learning more about managing

school budget and personnel.

CAPE 4 Family and Community Engagement

Working in a school setting is more than simply working with teachers. I think the focus

on this CAPE helped me understand the bigger picture of the intricacies of a school community.

I always knew that parents played a significant role but I learned that they hold a stake in the

health of a school. At my school, we have several parents that do not speak English and often

times feel left out of the communication. It was important to me to find ways to reach all our

parents and utilize the diversity of our school in a positive way. It required for lines of

communication to be open and for a consistent message of welcoming parent voices. We

continue to do this work. Especially during this time of a pandemic, it is crucial that we stay

connected to parents and offer assistance to programs throughout the year. One initiative I am

extremely proud of is the launching of our new school website. Our school did not have one in

the past. I saw this gap and decided to launch a Google Site as a place to offer school
 5

information and connect with their child’s teacher. I was able to mobilize a team of volunteers to

help build the website and launch our new website this school year. It has been an amazing

project. The feedback I am receiving is a testament to the importance of mobilizing community

resources to maintain communication with our families.

CAPE 5 Ethics and Integrity

CAPE 5 was an area that I found very interesting because it pushed me to expand my

resources in professional development. I often had opportunities to improve my teaching skills

and gain knowledge around data and standards. However, by putting a focus on my leadership

development, I have been able to learn more about my leadership skills and work towards

developing these areas. I took part in many symposiums that shared insights to leadership

capacity and challenges of leading a school. These presentations were extremely helpful. I

learned of several authors that have a wealth of information and best practices. My site

supervisor has been a great help in answering questions that come up for me. I make it a point to

reach out to him whenever I have a scenario that I am curious about or need advice. In speaking

with my site supervisor, and by reading the resources through the program, I continue to learn

about the responsibilities that fall upon a leader and how to accomplish the best outcomes for the

students and staff.

CAPE 6 External Context Policy

This area of the CAPEs is where I would like to develop further. I understand that the

school is part of a lager system but I would like to know the intricacies of that system. Also, I

would like to learn how to best drive student performance through maximizing the resources

from the larger system. It is easy to assume that the national government makes policies and

districts manage and implement these policies through schools. However, when I begin to look
 6

closer at that system, it is evident that it is more complex and will take a deeper understanding of

how to harness these components in order to improve school challenges. One specific skill I am

currently and will continue to work on is to improve my public speaking skills. I had started to

take part in Network meetings with were lead by our Network Superintendent. These meetings

gave me insight to the level of communication that needs to take place between a school and its

district team. I find that the most effective leaders are those that can communicate and articulate

information to a larger audience. Having a clear and concise message is important when sharing

information or initiatives. Public speaking is a skill I would like to nourish.

Conclusions

The role of a principal can strongly shape the conditions for teaching and learning at a

school. Therefore, it is vital that the leadership is effective and of high-quality. Schools will

continue to be held accountable to the highest level of standards. I feel that the CAPEs will help

in guiding me through establishing my approach to leadership.

 7

References

California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2017, September). California Administrator

Performance Expectations, CAPE.
https://www.ctcexams.nesinc.com/content/docs/CAPE_Placemat.pdf

California Department of Education. (2009). California Standards for the Teaching Profession,
CSTP. Commission on Teacher Credentialing. https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-
source/educator-prep/standards/cstp-2009.pdf

Schmoker, M. (1999). Results: The key to continuous school improvement (2nd Edition). ASCD