Case Study: Shaping School Culture

Michael Underhill

Department of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD-529: Clinical Internship II: Learner Centered Leadership

Dr. Jesse Washington

August 24, 2022

Part 1: Case Analysis
Brief Summary: I am taking over the principal position at the school I was previously an

assistant principal at. We have been identified as a school that needs improvement and there is a

large laundry list of issues that need to be addressed before we start the school year. There are

several positions that need to be filled as well as addressing changes in the SIP goals for the

following school year. There is a collaborative amount of work that needs to be completed before

the school year starts and finding a starting point seems to be the biggest hurdle.

Issues to be Resolved: I am going to go through these in the order that I would address them. The

first thing I would do is have an open dialogue and steady stream of communication with my

assistant principal. We need to be working together to accomplish the number of tasks that are

set before us. Hiring staff is a huge deal. Having to bring in seven new employees and get them

up to speed before the students show up is no easy task. Working on receiving a higher grade

from the state is the end goal but there are several smaller tasks that need to be completed before

that report card is created and sent out.

Stakeholders involved: This case has an abundance of stakeholders due to the fact of receiving

such a low score from the state. Not only are your students and their families affected by the next

years’ outcomes, but your staff and their families are as well. Having to atone for what occurs in

the following year is a heavy burden and I would see this as a challenge to rise above the scripted

norm that has been created about us being a “bad” school. Having the right mindset and attitude

can mean the difference between a thriving successful school and possibly having the state come

in and shut us down.

Existing Court Cases: After reading through this case study, the important thing is to recognize

the “Performance” of the school you are running. Although I couldn’t find any court cases, I did
manage to get lost in the Illinois School Code for a while and uncovered written language that is

set for schools and school districts that I did not know existed.

5. District Policies: Our organization still has not had our Student and Staff Handbooks approved

by our school board so I currently do not have any district policies that would come into play

with this case study. I would hazard a guess that decreasing the behavioral referrals that were

logged would be one area to look at and in the State of Illinois, schools are bound to Senate Bill

100 that limits the number of suspensions and expulsions that schools and school districts can

have over the course of a school year.

Possible Solutions: I would begin working on filling the open positions that we currently have

for the upcoming school year. Once positions are filled, and we have the people that we want in

those roles, we can begin working on SIP goals, behavior reports, data that will influence

instruction and intervention and so on. Realizing that this is an overwhelming amount of work

for one person is what strikes me immediately. Having that open line of communication between

myself and the assistant principal as well as reaching out to my boss if I feel I am stuck is equally

important.

7. Action Steps:

1. Begin interviewing applicants for open positions—goal would be to have ALL positions filled

before staff returns to PD days before students show up.

2. Work with assistant principal to address behavior intervention plan and devise a management

system that will be used throughout the school year.

3. Work with staff and other members of the community to ensure that the school year starts off

right and the school is set up with a warm welcoming atmosphere and school culture can have an

immediate take-off from day one.

8. Potential Moral/Legal Issues with this case: The way that this case study is set up, there are no

court cases or precedents. I, as an administrator would feel like I would have let my staff and

students down if at the end of the year we are still labeled as Needs Improvement and there is a

possibility that we might get shut down. If I have gone through the correct procedures to curve

the negative attitude and stigma that exists and I have protocols put in place to address behavior

or any other issue that the state tracks, then I also would feel confident that the Needs

Improvement rating would not return and we can continue to focus on providing the best

education that we can for our students.

Part 2: Rationale

This case study reminded me of a school and district that I had previously worked in. The school

itself had not been flagged for needing improvement but we still struggled with the behavioral

issues that were brought up. Our demographics were also very similar to the case study and there

was little movement in the form of working to correct the negative stigma that was placed on us.

All throughout the district, we were labeled as the “bad” school. Teaching there was tough and if

I am being honest, providing instruction on some days was physically impossible. I would spend

most of the class period correcting behaviors and not focused on my curriculum. I would send a

student out for a non-negotiable and the principal would have them back in my classroom within

15 minutes of the same class. The procedure I have outlined and would follow would give my

school the best chance of being successful and working towards completing the goals that we set

at the beginning of the school year. By hiring the staff in those positions, I would be ensuring
that I had the best candidates in the positions to handle the circumstances that would arise.

Knowing who our students are makes a difference as well. Having a school of that size with a

large Latino and African American population would automatically get that negative stigma that

I referred to earlier. Seeing as that is the same demographic that I currently work with, I know it

is possible to see students of color succeed. I know there is determination. I know they want to

make us teachers proud of them. I see it every day. Finding and building those relationships is

important, not only in the classroom, but as an administrator as well. If the students know they

are cared for, that is more than half the battle. I would strive to ensure that the relationship piece

is there and work on test scores later down the road. Fixing and curving behavioral issues goes

hand in hand with relationship building. Having teachers who are empathetic to certain situations

but able to hold firm on expectations would give students the best opportunity to thrive and

would surely guarantee that the school’s future would no longer be in jeopardy.