Christine A.
Migliori
What I have learned
EDLP 6010: Leadership in Learning Communities: From Theory to Practice
This was my first class in this program, and it was a good introduction to the program. In this
class we discussed the changes that have occurred from the days of the one room schoolhouse to
schools now with thousands of students under one roof. We discussed how the accountability
practices for principals have evolved over the years, and how the position itself has changed. We
also tracked the history of educational and licensure requirements for principals. It is hard to
believe that principals were also the only teacher in the school, maybe the only teacher in the
school and may have been responsible for everything from discipline, instruction, and
maintenance. Thankfully, things have changed.
It was in this class that we began to develop our leadership platform and metaphor. Even at this
very early stage in the program it seems that the platform I was developing would lead to my
application the Ph.D. Program at Rutgers. The platform and metaphor I developed was:
Leadership is the ability to be true to yourself while valuing the diversity of others. How odd it is
to see this platform/metaphor now because it really is who I have developed into as an aspiring
educational leader.
EDLP 6030 Educational Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Design:
It was in this class that I faced down my mortal academic enemy: Statistics. This class would
prove to be very challenging, but overcoming the challenge really helped me to grow as a
student. If I could tackle my old enemy math and walk away with a good grade I would have
grown as a student. It was in this class that I feel I grew the most. Dealing with the statistics was
difficult but the knowledge gained will be invaluable in my future both as an administrator and
doctoral student.
We discussed the two types of research: Qualitative and Quantitative and their applications in
educational research. This information would be used to design and carry out my research
project for this class. The research project involved writing a proposal, submitting the proposal
for approval, revising said proposal, submitting an IRB form to the university for approval,
developing a research point and survey, carrying out the research, tabulated the results, and
finally presenting the research and interpreting the results. The process was one of the more
difficult assignments in this program, but the results were interesting. Some of the ideas I
developed for increasing community involvement have been used in my school with moderate
success. Some of my ideas were used by others in my school with great success. I was not
offended because it was my research that saw a need, addressed the need, and helped to solve a
problem. At the time I did not realize how useful this information would be in the remaining
classes in this program, but it has proven to be invaluable.
EDLP 6040 Curriculum Design: Theory and Development
For this class we looked at curriculum design the different theories and developments that have
driven the field. We looked at early curriculums and tracked how the development and design of
curriculum as been affected by educational laws, technology development, class size and the
ever-changing need of the students in our classes.
We spent a lot of time looking at the different curriculum models and discussing what model
seemed best suited for our subject area, student needs, and community needs. It was in this class
that I realized that the curriculum is not the creativity killer in education; it is the teacher. Good
curriculum and better instruction are dependent on each other and one should inform the other.
Just because we are being told what we should teach does not mean we are being told how to
teach. Creativity is still a very important part of instruction and is essential to its success.
Working with a partner we developed our own curriculum outside of our subject area. I worked
on a math curriculum which was interesting because I do not teach math. We need to decide on
our objectives, suggested activities, essential questions, find materials, and then develop a plan
for one marking period. There was so much more to it than I thought, now when I looked at a
new curriculum before I complain about the plan I realize the amount of work that went into its
development and make it work for me. After all, good instruction and curriculum are
complementary and enhance each other.
EDLP 6050: Understanding Group Processes and the Psychology or Organizations:
The focus of this class was understanding the group processes and the psychology of
organizations. The purpose of this class was to look at the school as a social system. We focused
on the organizational dynamics within a group and how educational missions and visions are
carried out because of these dynamics. We were presented with models of organizational change.
We discussed, analyzed, and applied these models of organizational change to our own
situations. Interesting social dilemmas were discussed, and we applied the theories learned to
explain how we would deal with these situations. We spent times looking at the role of the
organizational leader as the facilitator of change. We also discussed the interplay of politics, the
community, the school, and individuals are the biggest influencers in schools. We looked at
schools as a social system and discussed how the social system of the school plays into the
education of the students.
For this class we developed a mission/ vision statement for a school and explained how the
mission and vision statements for our school will support the learning of the students in the
school and how the group dynamics would be affected by this mission/vision statement. The
vison was the what for my ideal school and the mission was the how for the school. These are the
statements I developed for my school:
Vision Statement: The Cooperative Community School will be a diverse school in
which families, students, staff and community members work together to ensure that all
students are successfully educated, reaching their fullest potential, in a caring, safe, and
healthy learning environment.
Mission Statement: The school will provide all students, and staff, an environment in
which they are safe and encouraged to succeed. The students will be provided with a
curriculum that is challenging, rigorous, and compelling. The instructional standards will
be research driven, and academic and instructional excellence will be achieved in every
classroom. The curriculum will respect the diversity of the community and strive to
embrace and share the value of each person’s cultural and ethnic uniqueness. It will be a
community in which different learning styles are understood, embraced, and encouraged.
The school community will work together to ensure that all students are proficient in all
subject areas at graduation.
The focus of my school would be built on the respect of all diversity in the school. We would
work to make sure that the students are reaching their full potential. This would include an
“embrace” of the different learning styles within the community. Academic and instructional
excellence would be a part of the core principles in the school. Developing these statements
made me realize how impactful these statements can be when they are fully integrated into the
daily operations of the school.
For this class, the independent assignment required me to visit, analyze and interview members
of a non-educational organization. The purpose was to compare how this organization ran in
relation to my school. In our paper we needed to discuss the following points:
The mission and vision of the organization
The climate and culture
Governance
Capacity for change
After we discussed the above points in a summary of our visit, we needed to compare the
organization to our school. The differences between the “school world” and the “outside world”
are stark in some respects, but very similar in others. The personal problems that plague
education also plague corporate America and the questions of retention, acquisition, and training
are similar in both worlds.
EDLP 6060: The Principalship: The Person and The Profession:
The purpose of this class was to introduce us to the educational leadership skills that we would
need to be effective school leaders. We would discuss how to engage the community, how to
ensure that everyone was being success and their personal well being was assured, and how to
engage the family in our schools. All these skills would be used to support and strengthen
student learning, improve the school environment, and to help us to advocate for the needs of our
school and the community it served.
The class addressed ten content knowledge skills that would be important in my future role as a
school leader. In my research I would discuss how these content knowledge point would be
helpful in my role as a future school leader. I would also discuss why I needed to be familiar
with these content knowledge points. This was interesting because it demonstrated how
important the understanding, development, and implementation of these skills will be in my
future as an administrative leader. These skills are critical for any success I may have.
Additionally, I needed to create an action plan for my first school. The plan would address the
following NELP Standards: 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3. The plan would focus on my ability to create and
implement a plan that focused on community and family relations. It would be a year long plan
and would serve to guide me in improving family and community relations. The plan is
something that I would use in my first year, but I know that it will need to be heavily revised to
fit the community. Looking at the plan now I realize that there are items that are over ambitious
and items that are not ambitious at all. These points will need to be revised and tailored to the
school in which I am employed. But the assignment was worth while because it really did show
how much dedication, persistence, and drive is needed to be a successful administrator.
EDLP 6090: Supervision and Evaluation
The purpose of this course was to:
develop an understanding of the professional staff capacity needs and management
practices
To identify any leadership capabilities in our staff
To promote professional growth
To use digital technology for professional learning
To observe teaching
To develop a system for monitoring teacher performance and to improve evaluation and
supervision strategies.
In this class we looked at different systems of evaluation, observation, and feedback. We
discussed what worked in each system, and what could be improved upon in each system. Using
the knowledge gained we developed a pre and post observation tool that we would use to observe
a teacher. Using the instruments, we designed we would implement, observe, and report back to
a teacher our conclusions based on the lesson we observed. This was an interesting “experiment”
because it showed me how difficult it is to evaluate teachers on some points. It also showed how
hard it is to put aside your personal feelings about someone when you are conducting a
professional observation.
Another key assignment in this class was the development, implementation, and feedback
analysis of a presentation for non-tenure teachers. or this project I needed to submit a proposal to
my principal, develop the proposal, and implement my plan. I developed a PD on Achieve NJ for
new teachers in my school, presented my power point, provided relevant resources that
disseminated the needed information to the staff. After the presentation I met with my principal
to discuss the results and evaluate my own performance at the PD. The presentation was viewed
favorably, and all seemed to gain something from the presentation. The most important thing
learned. Always feed your audience the loved the cookies and coffee!
EDLP 6100: School Management Functions, Finance, Structures, and Resources
For this class we investigated the history of school finance, its development, and changes
throughout the years. We looked at laws and court cases that have helped to shape the current
landmine of school financing. We looked at, analyzed, and discussed the laws that have helped to
establish schools. Our discussions included the different funding sources for private and
parochial schools versus public schools. the most surprising point for me from the first class is
that an education is not a right granted in the United States Constitution. How can the
constitution not guarantee a free education for all? It is the responsibility of the states to provide
an education for all students. They receive federal support, and the federal government does
mandate certain initiatives like NCLB and Common Core; but the who, what and how of the
educational system is primarily left to the states.
We looked at the different federal and state initiatives that have impacted education, and how
these have changed the educational field over time. We looked at the various grants available to
schools and how school funding sources have changed over time. As a part of this we looked at
and discussed the different cases heard by the Supreme Court regarding funding and discussed
their impact on education today.
We looked at various school budgets and analyzed how the money was spent and why. I
analyzed my school budget and interviewed my principal about the decisions she made in this
budget. She explained how she chooses what programs need more financial support and what
supplies are most important to the school. We also discussed how she tries to anticipate the needs
of the community based on past events. I would love to discuss with her now about how this
Pandemic is going to influence her budget for next year.
The project for this class was to create, fund, and present a budget for a hypothetical school.
Working as a group we needed to decide how we were going to spend our money, who was
going to get what and what other funding sources were available to the school. Some of the
decisions were not easy to make. Deciding which program needed more money based on student
need and achievement results were not easy. Even though it was a hypothetical school there were
some department members who were upset with their monetary allocations. This assignment and
class have made me realize that school budgeting will be the hardest part of the job.
EDLP 6110: Problems in Practice: Legal and School Centered Issues
This was the class I was looking forward to the most and it was interrupted by a Pandemic. We
transitioned to a completely online class seamlessly. I missed the in-class discussions, but we
soldiered on and made the best of an unimaginable circumstance.
In this we delved into the many faceted and complicated topics that revolve around school law
and ethical leadership. For the school law part, we looked at, discussed the many different laws
that affect education in the United States. We covered everything form employment law, to
disability law, discrimination laws, the different standards applied to the law, how school laws
are established and enforced. The class website contained links to the course materials, and
valuable resources for the US DOE, OYEZ, and The NJ Admin Code. All the other resources
were useful in my attempt to understand the various laws. Additionally, we covered Tort Law,
Negligence, Establishment Clauses, and church- school relations. It has been a lot to digest.
What was helpful were the scenarios that we needed to defend and explain our choices. They
showed me that I did not know as much as I thought I did, and they were great practice.
Two of the most important points I gained from this class are:
1. The law is ever changing and my study of it will never end.
2. Ethics and the law go hand in hand, you can not have one without the other.
We discussed the four reasons why are principal needs to know the law and they are:
1. Self-Preservation
2. Professional Confidence
3. Protecting your instructions and colleagues.
4. Professional responsibility and leadership
I will be referring to these many times in my career.
We also delved into the importance of being an ethical leader and what that meant. We studied
the ethical treatises from various philosophers and how these ideas can impact our leadership
practice. We analyzed our leadership styles in terms of these ethical philosophies and analyzed
how our beliefs will impact our careers. Knowing who I am in terms of my views on ethics and
understanding how these views will impact my career as been enlightening. I am not as open
minded and fair in my thinking and beliefs as I thought. This is something I will continue to
work on.
The final assignment for the class was to answer the question of how this information will be
used in my career. After writing the paper, I now realize that it is a question that will never be
completely answered. As my study of the law and ethics will need to be an ongoing, ever
developing, and practiced topic in my career. It will be of the utmost important to continually
learn in this area. This class has given me a solid foundation on which I can build future
knowledge.
