Standard 6: External Context and Policy

Standard 5 states “Education Leaders influence political, social, economic, legal, and

cultural contexts affecting education to improve education policies and practices.” Given the

ever changing political landscape and the effects on charter schools in particular, actively

building external relationships by collaborating and communicating with a variety of key

stakeholders is an important skill to develop. One example of this is the relationship between a

school leader and the board of directors. The board of directors plays an active role in the vision,

mission, and goals in place for the school. I have experience with the board in several capacities,

both as a member of the instructional leadership team, and as a ​board director​. As example

indicator 6A-1 for this standard states, leaders must “operate consistently within the parameters

of federal, state, and local laws, policies, regulations, and statutory requirements.” I gained some

insight into these parameters when I recieved ​Brown Act training​ prior to joining the board of

directors. Prior to these experiences, I was not aware of how much influence the board of

directors had over schoolwide decisions. The school leaders played a significant role in

contextualizing the school needs by presenting data to the board. This relationship is an

important one. I gained further insight into the relationship from the class discussions and

readings from EDAD 616A: The Role of Schooling in a Democratic Society. In this course we

read and referenced ​A Teacher's Pocket Guide to School Law​, by Nathan L. Essex. This text

provided information about the boards responsibility to adopt policies and procedures for the

district or organization. As a teacher, I had very little contextual understanding of the board of

directors so my goal as an administrator is to make sure all stakeholders understand the

education policy environment.

 It is also important for leaders to build external relationships with the purpose of getting

key stakeholders and policy makers to care about the academic outcomes of the students in our

schools. An artifact that encompasses this part of the standard is an article found at

https://ncdailystar.com/25th-anniversary-stakeholders-celebration-for-guajome-park-academy/

that details a long held tradition at my current site called Stakeholders Day. We use this event to

showcase the mission and vision of our school through student presentations and performances.

It is a way to bring the community into our school to increase awareness and support for what we

do as an organization. This past year Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath, Council

Members Joe Green and Corinna Contreras, and our board of directors were in attendance. It is

especially important to build support and alliances as charter schools are currently viewed in an

unfavorable light by a growing number of people. My goal as a developing leader is to continue

to build my working understanding of how to seek out, create, and maintain external

relationships that will help advance the mission and vision of my school. Next steps include

building my professional network to include experts and specialists in the field of education

References

Essex, N. (2015). ​A Teacher's Pocket Guide to School Law.​ Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.