THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION THEME

Excellence—Integrity--Caring

CANDIDATE DISPOSITIONS

Candidates preparing to work in schools as teachers or other professional school personnel know and demonstrate the content, pedagogical, and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students learn.

Professional Collaboration

Candidates will participate in action-oriented collaboration that will enable them to learn from others and provide leadership in partnerships with all stakeholders.

Reflective Practitioner

Candidates are reflective, life long learners who apply problem solving and critical thinking strategies and the respectful appreciation of differing points of view.

Ethical Professional

Candidates’ actions are based on accepted professional standards of conduct and reflect insight and awareness with respect to diverse perspectives, opinions, obligations and ethical responsibilities of the profession.

Student/Client Centered

Candidates, throughout their programs, will prioritize the needs of the students/clients they serve by maintaining trusting relationships built upon caring, nurturing (respective) and meaningful interactions.

Professional Leader

Candidates, throughout their programs, will be strong, determined, professional leaders with a clear instructional focus using effective communication skills and a willingness to take risks to ensure the advancement, safety, and welfare of all students in our communities.

Professional Competence

Candidates will maintain high programmatic outcomes that reflect research-based practices, principles of learning differentiation, and standards based instruction.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The community is examined as it influences the school.  Strategies for learning about communication with the community will be analyzed.

GOAL OF COURSE:

     To develop knowledge of the school/community relationship. 

THEME OF THE COURSE: The opposition between stability and change.

     On the one hand public education must develop closer school/community ties.  On the other hand, the closer the school/community ties, the more difficult it may become for school administrators to lead needed change.  (Notice that this "opposition" is very close to the difference between expository and investigatory teaching and learning.)

ASSUMPTION:

     A positive school/community climate requires such skills as motivation, promotion, communicating, and networking.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1.  Candidates will be able to identify several definitions of community.  (Cognitive)

2.  Candidates will understand the principal's role in building a sense of community within the faculty along with specific activities that the principal will take to build this sense of community.  (Affective)

3.  Candidates through classroom projects, discussion, and examination will understand at an operational level strategies by which they can understand the geographical, socio-economic, and ethnic makeup of their school community.  (Cognitive, Social)

4.  Candidates will be familiar with the strategies and then be able to identify the pyramids of power in their own communities.  (Social)

5.  Candidates will understand the techniques of identifying strategies for using key community agencies, such as the police department, mental health services, public health services, etc.  (Cognitive, Social)  

6.  Candidates will be able to design a plan of two-way communication of school and community that will include use of radio, television, newsletters, surveys, newspapers, etc.  (Affective, Social)

7.  Candidates will understand appropriate strategies and through simulation work with community groups that will include Rotary, ethnically representative groups, etc.  (Affective, Social)  

8.  Candidates will understand through identification of appropriate state and federal laws and regulations parent advisory groups including school-site councils.  (Cognitive, Affective)

TEXT:

    Shores, Elizabeth, Family Involvement as a Critical Component of Teacher Education Programs.  Tallahassee, Fl.: SERVE, 1998.

    Achilles, Charles; Carol, Lila; Cuningham, Luvern; and Wayson, William, Handbook for Developing Public Confidence in Schools.  Bloomington: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1988.

REFERENCES:

    Bender, Thomas, Community and Social Change in America.  New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1978.

    Bellah, Robert et.al., Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life.  Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

    Coleman, James, et. al., Public vs. Private High Schools: The Impact of Communities.  New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1987.

    Dewey, John, My Pedagogic Creed, 1897.  Source:  Ulich, Robert (ed.), Three Thousand Years of Educational Wisdom.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982.

    Dunn, S. Watson, Public Relations.  Homewood, Illinois: Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1986.

    Fehl, Noah, The Idea of a University in East and West.  Hong Kong: Chung Chi College, 1962.

    Foster, William, Paradigms and Promises: New Approaches To Educational Administration.  Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books, 1986.

    Griffiths, Daniel, et.al., Leaders for America's Schools.  Berkeley, California: McCutchan Publishing Corporation, 1988.

    Johnston, William B. and Packer, Arnold, Workforce 2000: Work and Workers for the 21st Century.  Indianapolis, Indiana: Hudson Institute, 1987.

    Kelly, Henry, et.al., Technology and the American Economic Transition: Choices for the Future.  Washington, D.C.: Office of Technology Assessment, 1988.

    Machiavelli, The Prince.

    Neustadt, Richard and May, Ernest, Thinking In Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers.  New York: The Free Press, 1986.

    Schumacher, E.F., Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered.  New York: Harper & Row, 1973.

    Sergiovanni, Thomas; Burlingame, Martin; Coombs, Fred; and Thurston, Paul, Educational Governance and Administration.  Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987.  

    Spence, Jonathan, The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution, 1895-1980.  New York: The Viking Press, 1981.

    Turnbull, Colin, The Mountain People.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972.

    Tyack, David and Hansot, Elisabeth, Managers of Virtue: Public School Leadership in America, 1820-1980.  New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1982.

    Woodham-Smith, Cecil, The Great Hunger.  New York: Harper & Row, 1962.

TOPIC OUTLINE:

    Practical Public Relations

    The Theoretical Basis of Community Relations

    The Meaning of Community

    School Climate Assessment

    The School As Social Gadfly

    How Are Schools Responding to the Needs of Local Communities?

    The School as a Social Institution

    Community Culture

    Multiple Communities

CLASS ACTIVITIES AND REQUIREMENTS:  

    This seminar uses a variety of educational tools and techniques to link theory and practice.  These include role-playing, simulation, small group interaction, lectures, discussion and presentation.  Throughout the course, participants are expected to take active roles in discussion and debate, lead parts of the seminar, and exchange ideas and information.

ASSIGNED EXERCISES:

1.  Case Study--Students will be asked to turn in and report on one case that clearly depicts some aspect of the school and its personnel interacting with the community.  This case study must be based upon media reports and at least one telephone call to someone directly or indirectly involved in the situation.  (Deadline:  Starting with session #2, the specific deadline for the case study report will be set individually in class so that brief reports on this activity are spread throughout the term.)

An example of a format for writing these case studies might be: (a) The Problem; (b) Possible Causes; (c) Goals of Action; (d) Alternatives; (e) Selected Alternative; (f) Outcome.  A more  detailed approach is presented in: Neustadt, Richard and May, Ernest, Thinking In Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers.  New York: The Free Press, 1986.

Purpose of Assignment:  To examine the multiple perspectives surrounding most school/community relations problems.

2.  Working With The Community?--A long tradition maintains that schooling in America is a local function.  On the other hand many administrators feel that they respond more to state and federal mandates than they do to local needs.  Identify and briefly (e.g. one page) describe areas where your district has responded to local needs.  (Due: Session #5)

Purpose of Assignment:  To examine the extent to which we still have "local schools."

3.  Creating Learning Communities--According to a recent Carnegie Commission study, 80% of America's teachers feel that student apathy is a major problem.  Congressional committees fear the social and economic consequences of the high dropout rates in the largest city school systems.  Educational researchers have found that our students rank very low in science, for example, in comparison to students from other developed countries.  Here in the United States there are approximately as many foreigners studying for the doctorate in mathematics as Americans.  Clearly, educational leaders are faced with a major problem: how to transform a culture if America is not to fall at risk.  The demand that we educate all our people must come from the people themselves.  Students will learn when it becomes a high priority; when it becomes a prime concern in America. 

What can we as educational leaders do?  (Due: "immediately."  Ideas will be accepted throughout this course, and everyone will be expected to share at least one written idea.)

Purpose of Assignment:  To generate ideas for the creation of learning communities.

4.  Project--You have applied for an administrative position and have been invited for an interview.  In preparation for that interview, you will need background information on the community and its schools.  This background information will include demographic information from census records, historical information from the library and a local museum, geographical information from the Chamber of Commerce and the city or county planning office, recent school district history from a reading of recent board minutes, and an analysis of community power and influence structures through discussions with community members representing varying perspectives.  Your written report on this project will consist of a summary outline of significant information gathered.  Your oral report to the class will be in the form of a simulated interview for a hypothetical administrative position in which it becomes quickly obvious that you have researched school/community relations.

Note:  Let's try to pick differing school-communities, so that we can establish a file of background information to share when applying for actual administrative positions.  

Deadline:  Starting with session #3, the interview schedule for specific individuals will be set in class.

Purpose of Assignment:  To learn to apply knowledge of school/community relations to the practical problem of getting and starting an administrative position.

METHOD OF EVALUATION

    Participation                 20%

    Informal Cases             20%

    Project                         40%

    Final Examination         20%

A note with respect to deadlines for written work:  Written work on the case studies and projects will be due at the end of the assigned session on which it is reported.  The grade of any late assignment will be reduced at the rate of 10% per day, so all possible contingencies (e.g., computer failure or ordinary heartbreak) should be anticipated.  

A note with respect to the assignments:  Each of the above assignments has been chosen to further the goals of this course.  Occasionally an assignment will not be appropriate for an individual student.  When you feel this is the case, discuss the matter with your instructor who will consider changing the assignment to better meet your needs.  

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National Standards for Parent Involvement

(See: http://www/pta.org/issues/invstand.htm)

One way to evaluate your parent involvement efforts is to determine whether they meet these standards, published in 1997 by the National PTA and endorsed by more than 30 national education and parent involvement organizations:

1.    Communicating.  Communication between home and school is regular, two-way, and meaningful.

2.    Parenting.  Parenting skills are promoted and supported.

3.    Student learning.  Parents play an integral role in assisting student learning at home and school.

4.    Volunteering.  Parents are welcome in the school and their support and assistance are sought.

5.    School decision making and advocacy.  Parents are full partners in the decisions that affect children and families.

6.    Collaboration with community.  Community resources are used to strengthen schools, families, and student learning.

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Kernan-Schloss and Plattner (Kernan-Schloss, Adam and Plattner, Andy, "Talking to the Public About Public Schools, Educational Leadership, 56(2), Oct. 1998, 18-22) remind educators that private enterprise may spend up to 35% of its very sizeable budget on advertising while education spends less than 1%.

A note with respect to the course standards:  Since this is a professional course in preparation for administrative positions such as the principalship, the instructor's goal has been to set standards which match what is expected of school administrators.  For example, principals are required to attend faculty meetings on time, and speak and write cogently.  Therefore standards consistent with these professional expectations have been set as follows:

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

    Students are expected to arrive promptly and attend all class meetings.  Students should participate actively, and, if at all possible, inform the instructor if they plan on missing a class.  To benefit from this seminar, students must be in attendance.  Further, cooperative group work is frequently assigned, and each member of the cooperative group must be confident that all members will be in attendance.

    Attendance Standard:  The grade of any student that misses more than one session (one session = one evening = two class periods) will be reduced one grade level for each additional session missed.  Since principals must set an example of promptness in their attendance, tardiness to a session will count as one period missed.  If it becomes necessary to miss more than one session, specific arrangements for a make-up assignment may be made with the instructor.

PROFESSIONAL WRITING STANDARD REQUIRED: 

This graduate course is part of a larger effort to improve the preparation of educational administrators.  As future instructional leaders, students in this course are expected to model an understanding of the liberal arts, which includes, but is certainly much more than applying correct spelling and grammar in written assignments.  While the instructor expects students to enter the course with these writing skills and understandings, students in need of assistance should work closely with the instructor, starting early in the course, to obtain help in perfecting their writing.  The instructor eagerly wants to help students, but also insists upon quality work.

Grading Standards for Writing Assignments

REQUIRED FORMAT FOR PAPERS AND TESTS COMPLETED OUT OF CLASS:

    All papers and outlines must be typed.  Use a single-space format with one blank line between paragraphs, as in this syllabus.  Footnotes may be included in the body of the text, placed at the bottom of the page, or listed at the end of the document, in accordance with your preference.  The form of the bibliographic citations should be consistent with that used in this syllabus.  In typing outlines, utilize hanging indents.  There is no need to use plastic binders or purchased covers for papers.  Place your name, last name first, in the upper right hand corner; place the name of the course on the next line; and the date on the third line.  Skip a line and then center the title of your paper.  If the paper is more than one page long, staple the pages together in the upper left hand corner.  In completing examinations, repeat the question, skip a line, and then provide your answer.

THE SIMULATIONS:

    During class we will be considering some common school/community administrative problems.  Read the incident thoroughly.  Isolate, breakdown, compare, evaluate, and prioritize the data.  Separate what is known from what is surmised and unknown.  Then develop several feasible action plans, including the specific actions to be taken, who should take the actions, a time frame for proceeding, the trade-offs being made, and the predicted outcome of each plan.

    Some common errors in incident analysis include:

1.  Unrecognized or inappropriate assumptions.  Identify your assumptions.

2.  Over use of generalizations though there are commonalities between administrative problems that we can learn from.

3.  Cliches (e.g. "the problem is one of poor communication").  Be more specific.

4.  Overemphasizing one aspect.  Don't spend all your time and effort looking at one small part of the situation.

5.  Being unrealistic.  Recommend a course of action that is appropriate to the school situation.  

DAILY OUTLINE:

Session #1: Practical and Theoretical Considerations

    Introduction of Instructor

    Discussion of Standards and Grading

    Distribution of Syllabus

    Status Reports

    Practical Public Relations Considerations

    The Theoretical Basis for School/Community Relations

    Material from Noah Fehl, The Idea of a University in East and West on the notion of a learning community.

    Readings: 

    Bender, Thomas, Community and Social Change in America.  New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1978, p. 3-11.

    "Individualism," in Bellah, Robert et.al., Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life.  Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985, p. 142-163.

Session #2:  The Meaning of Community

    What do we mean by "a sense of community?" 

    Can we identify ourselves apart from the concept of community?

    How has the concept of community changed?

    Case Studies

    Simulation:  Criticism of a 3rd Grade Teacher

    Simulation:  Dealing With Advertisers in School

Session #3:  School Climate Assessment

    The work of Dr. Richard Andrews at the U. of Washington

    Interviews

    Case Studies

    Simulation: Parent Complaints About A Teacher

    Reading: Socrates' Apology

Session #4:  The School As Social Gadfly

    Discussion: Socrates' Apology

    Simulation: Irate Parent Re: Student Disciplinary Decision

    Case Studies and Interviews

    Simulation: Parent Complaints About Teacher Advisors For Extra Curricular Activities

    Reading: Nazi Education: A Case of Political Socialization

Session #5:  How Are Schools Responding To The Needs Of Local Communities?

    What can contemporary public education learn from the history of Nazi Germany?

    Simulation: Parental Complaints About 6th Grade Teachers

    Sharing ways schools are responding to local needs.

    Simulation: Parent Complaint About Student Placement

Session #6:  The School As A Social Institution

    Simulation: Parent Upset With Student Disciplinary Action

    Case Studies and Interviews

    Simulation: Parent Complaint About Time Students Spend Preparing For A Musical

Session #7:  Community Culture

    Simulation: Parent/School Relations

    Case Studies and Interviews

    Simulation: Parent/Teacher Relations--Use of the Teachers' Lounge

Session #8:  Multiple Communities

    Movie: Rashomon

    Case Studies and Interviews

    Simulation: Parental Irresponsibility?

    Simulation: Parent Tells Student To Use Improper Means Of Resolving Conflict

Session #9: 

    Simulation: Student/Parent Relations

    Case Studies and Interviews

    Simulation: Teacher/Fire Department Relations

Session #10: Summary

    Final

_____________________

        In a school, where mistrust between the community and the administration is the major issue, you must begin to deal with it by making sure that parents are present at every major event, every meeting, every challenge.  Within the discomfort of that presence the learning and healing could begin.  (Dolan, P., Restructuring Our Schools.  Kansas City, Mo.: Systems and Organizations, 1994.)

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR DISABILITIES

Bakersfield, Santa Clarita, or Hanford Participants—To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) as soon as possible.  Their office is located in SA 140, and they may be reached at 661-654-3360 (voice), or 661-654-6288 (TDD).  If you have an accommodations letter from the SSD Office documenting that you have a disability, please present the letter to me during my office hours as soon as possible so we can discuss the specific accommodations that you might need in this class.

Antelope Valley Participants—To request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) as soon as possible.  Their office is located in Bldg. 200, and they may be reached at 661-952-5061 (voice) or 661-952-5120 (tdd).  If you have an accommodation letter from the SSD Office documenting that you have a disability, please present the letter to me during my office hours so we can discuss the specific accommodations that you might need in this class.

Rights and Responsibilities of Students

Academic Integrity

            The principles of truth and integrity are recognized as fundamental to a community of teachers and scholars.  The University expects that both faculty and students will honor these principles and in so doing will protect the integrity of all academic work and student grades.  Students are expected to do all work assigned to them without unauthorized assistance and without giving unauthorized assistance.  Faculty have the responsibility of exercising care in the planning and supervision of academic work so that honest effort will be encouraged and positively reinforced.

            There are certain forms of conduct that violate the university's policy of academic integrity.  ACADEMIC DISHONESTY (CHEATING) is a broad category of actions that involve fraud and deception to improve a grade or obtain course credit.  Academic dishonesty (cheating) is not limited to examination situations alone, but arises whenever students attempt to gain an unearned academic advantage.  PLAGIARISM is a specific form of academic dishonesty (cheating) which consists of the misuse of published or unpublished works of another by claiming them as one's own.  Plagiarism may consist of handing in someone else's work as one's own, copying or purchasing a pre-written composition and claiming it as one's own, using paragraphs, sentences, phrases, words or ideas written by another without giving appropriate citation, or using data and/or statistics compiled by another without giving appropriate citation.  Another example of academic dishonesty (cheating) is the SUBMISSION OF THE SAME, OR ESSENTIALLY THE SAME, PAPER or other assignment for credit in two different courses without receiving prior approval from the instructors of the affected courses.

            When a faculty member discovers a violation of the university's policy of academic integrity, the faculty member is required to notify the CSUB Dean of Student Life and CSUB Student Conduct Coordinator and the student(s) involved.  A course grade of 'F' may be assigned or another grade penalty may be applied at the discretion of the courses instructor.  Additional academic sanctions are determined by the student conduct coordinator.  Academic sanctions may include disciplinary probation, suspension, permanent expulsion from the university or from the California State University system, administrative hold on the release of records, and withholding a degree.  Disciplinary probation shall be noted on the student's formal academic record only for the duration of the probationary period.  Disciplinary suspension and expulsion are a part of the student's permanent record.

            The student may pursue a formal hearing or make a settlement agreement with the student conduct coordinator.  CSUB Dean of Student Life and CSUB Student Conduct Coordinator shall conduct an investigation, confer with the faculty member, students and any witnesses identified, and review all evidence.  The student is entitled to a formal hearing scheduled by the CSUB Dean of Student Life and CSUB Student Conduct Coordinator, in which the evidence of the alleged violation shall be presented before an impartial Hearing Officer (appointed by the President) and the student shall be present to provide an explanation or defense.  The Hearing Officer shall submit a written report to the President containing the findings, conclusions, and recommendations.  Alternatively, a settlement agreement may be made with the CSUB Dean of Student Life and CSUB Student Conduct Coordinator.  The settlement agreement will specify the academic sanctions, the length and terms of disciplinary probation or suspension, and the conditions the student is expected to meet in order to remain in good standing (e.g., training or regular meetings with the CSUB Dean of Student Life and CSUB Student Conduct Coordinator).  All sanctions are reported to the instructor reporting the incident, the student's Chair, and the student's Dean.

            Any repeated violation of academic integrity shall result in more serious academic sanctions.  Normally, this will include suspension or expulsion from the university with a note on the student's permanent record.

Academic Freedom

            Freedom to pursue truth and to achieve personal and intellectual development is essential to CSUB's community of scholars.  The University is firmly committed to such freedom for both students and faculty.  Academic freedom is the University's guarantee of freedom of expression by all students and faculty under the First Amendment.

            For the achievement of academic freedom, a necessary condition for such pursuit is an acceptance of the spirit of inquiry and appreciation for diverse ideas, viewpoints, cultures, and life-styles.  Acceptance must be demonstrated not only in the classroom but in all other areas of the campus.  The achievement of academic freedom, however, must occur within a respect for law and the protection of the opinions and dignity of others.

Civility and Respectful Conduct

            The classroom is essential for the achievement of academic freedom, the pursuit of truth, and the development of students.  Because of its importance, students are expected to exhibit respect for the views of others, the professionalism of the instructor, and the goals of academic freedom whenever they are in the classroom.

            Faculty are obligated to recognize and respect student diversity, ideas, perceptions, and opinions.  At the same time, faculty have a fundamental responsibility to maintain the integrity of the learning environment.  When confronted by unreasonable disruption in the classroom, faculty are expected to initiate actions to correct such conditions.  Such actions may result in disciplinary action ranging from removal from the classroom to formal disciplinary sanctions, including probation, suspension, or expulsion.