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On 3/04/05, DR. PROTUS TANIFORM wrote:
> PAPER ON THE SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION
> Instructional supervision is the art of overseeing
> the teaching and learning process in an academic
> institution, and, therefore, making sure the institution is
> administered, managed, and lead in an effective manner, so
> as to come up with an effective learning institution with a
> sane and consistent school culture.
> The purpose of supervision of instruction is partly
> to set up normative rules and regulations. Supervisors set
> local ground rules that set the tone. In an academic
> institution, like in any other institution, ground rules
> set the tone. Ground rules are the genesis of the culture
> of any school. These norms run the gamut of attendance,
> assiduity, students’ behavior, expectations, safety,
> security, respect for the constitution of the nation,
> communication, support and so on. Supervisors lay out our
> structured daily routines. The elements of a structured
> daily routine are: arriving on campus on time, respecting
> school schedule and time table, honoring all bells as
> appropriate, meeting the standards of the school district,
> respecting school rules and regulations, and participating
> in assigned activities.
> The authorities that should supervise include
> principals, assistant principals, counselors, teachers, and
> other support personnel on campus (Wells, 2004).
> Supervision on school campuses is not only the task of
> administrators, but also that of all other adults on
> campus. Supervision goes hand in hand with safety and
> security issues. Therefore, the school police and security
> guards are instrumental toward school supervision and the
> guarantee of safety and security.
> Successful supervisors should be knowledgeable
> about educational leadership, management, and
> administration. They should know the culture of their
> schools and school communities. The challenges mounted
> against school supervision portray different ramifications
> in affluent and low-income communities.
> A successful supervisor of instruction should be
> knowledgeable of real life issues like the ones I have
> analyzed for this paper. There has also been a paradigm
> shift in the mainstream culture, whereby residence in the
> suburbs or out of the inner city is construed as an
> indicator of success. The stigmatization of inner-city life
> has groomed this stereotype, which is sporadically imbued
> with violence, shootings, drugs, prostitution, and, more
> generally, skyrocketing crime rates. The media has worsened
> this school of thought by dramatizing negative events in
> the cities.
> Inner-city populations are partly constituted of a
> conglomeration of new-arrival immigrants, most of whom come
> in as economic, religious, political, and cultural
> refugees. Many fled from famine (Ethiopians, Sudanese,
> Somalis, etc), from wars and political unrest (Haitians,
> Somalis, Rwandans, Burundians, Cameroonians, etc), from
> economic crisis in their home countries (Chinese, Mexicans,
> Cubans, Nigerians, Cameroonians, etc.), and from many other
> unbearable situations. Unfortunately, most of these new
> immigrants are poor and wind up in the poor inner-city
> pockets, some call them ghettos, where housing is cheap,
> and low-paying jobs are easily available. However, I am not
> refuting the fact that a good number of them stream to the
> small cities, suburbs, city outskirts, villages, and farms.
> An example, worthy of notice, is the influx of refugees
> from war-torn Sudan to Omaha, Nebraska, where they have
> established veritable Sudanese communities.
> Inner-city immigrant groups have seen a lot of
> European immigrants over the last several centuries, but
> they represent a very small number now, when compared to
> the number of colored inner-city inhabitants and immigrants
> in general. This assertion dispels the paradigm that
> immigration in the United States is purely a non-White
> issue; American immigrants have been known to come form all
> over the world, and they are always welcome, even though
> many immigrants still come in under unacceptable and
> illegal methods.
> The incoming poor immigrants blend with the low-
> income inner-city populations and the resultant is a
> community of low socio-economic status, bearing all the
> characteristics that come with the tag, “low socio-economic
> status”. Immigrant families that integrate directly into
> the affluent communities are rare, and even when these
> cases are seen, they show up rarely, and would just be
> categorized as exceptions.
> Socio-economic status and success in education are
> directly linked. More affluent communities and
> neighborhoods produce better test scores than less affluent
> communities and neighborhoods. This conclusion was very
> evident when I compared test scores for students of Compton
> Unified School District, California, and those for the
> students of Palos Verdes Unified School District,
> California, from 1999 to 2004. The students in the former
> performed poorly when compared with students in the latter
> district.
> On one hand, Compton City, the bearer of Compton
> Unified School District, is predominantly made up of low-
> income families, although there are pockets of affluent
> blocks in the city. The community contributes less toward
> the schools of the district and parental participation
> toward the educational process is poor and almost
> inexistent. On the other hand, Palos Verdes, is an upscale
> neighborhood on the coast hills of Los Angeles County;
> perhaps the dream neighborhood of many Californian
> inhabitants. The high level of success of students in Palos
> Verdes School District tell a lot about the contribution of
> the highly educated and rich parents of the city, whose
> wealth has brought to bear on the educational process. Due
> to the nature of their highly lucrative professions, they
> always find time to contribute toward the education of
> their children, as opposed to most parents of low income
> communities, who work around the clock and at minimum wage
> and barely have enough time to raise their children, let
> alone participate in their educational process. The bigger
> question we will examine later is whether inner city kids
> are privileged with parents.
>
> Dropout Rates in Inner-city Schools as Opposed to Suburban
> and Outskirts Schools
>
> It is a fact that the dropout rates in American
> inner-city schools are higher than in the suburbs and
> outskirts. A comparative study among the inner city schools
> of Los Angeles and the suburban schools on the peripheries
> of Los Angeles County, California illustrates the
> discrepancy in dropout rates.
> A successful supervisor should be able to
> understand and accommodate different cultures and realities
> of his or her school community; our society is becoming
> very diverse. The supervisor should have got interpersonal
> skills and be able to lead, manage, and administer under a
> wide spectrum of issues and circumstances.
> The instructional needs of a teacher are good
> teacher training, supplies and materials for the teacher
> and her or his students, professional development seminars
> and meetings, a safe and healthy learning environment, a
> reasonable salary and benefits, and so on.
> Positive relationships between supervisors and
> teachers are collaboration in the delivery of instruction,
> classroom management, discipline on campus, and general
> safety and security on campus. Supervisors should make
> available to teachers what they need to succeed and give a
> constructive criticism of what teachers are doing.
> Evaluations of teachers should therefore be fair and
> considerate, and teachers should be given enough time to
> improve their performance. Teachers must always be informed
> as to what is expected of them. Supervisors should do
> everything possible to meet the needs of teachers, because
> they rely on these needs to succeed.
> Part of the activities of the instructional
> supervisor is to see into it that teachers commit
> themselves to the following classroom daily routines:
> I. Daily agenda and standards are to be posted daily.
> II. Maintain daily lesson plans throughout the school year.
> III. Develop standards-based pacing plans.
> IV. Develop teacher-created standards-based assessments.
> V. Attendance: Daily attendance expected of all students
> and teachers, and supervisors should work with students
> toward achieving this goal.
> Supervisors have the responsibility to see into it
> that students are in school and in class on time and attend
> all classes and assigned activities. Students are to be
> accounted for at all times during the school day (Essex,
> 2002). More specifically:
> 1.A student may not be absent from school except for
> reasons of health or family emergency.
> 2. A student may not leave school during the regularly
> scheduled school day without being dismissed by a school
> authority.
> 3. A student may not be consistently late to school.
> 4. A student may not be late to class or a scheduled
> activity.
> 5. A student may not skip class.
> 6.A student may not refuse to remain after school for
> discipline or extra help.
>
> ABSENCES
> California State Law requires that students must attend
> school. All students are expected to be in school every
> school day and supervisors must take appropriate measures
> regarding effective attendance and should not condon.
> 1. Truancy
> 2. Missing the bus
> 3. Shopping
> 4. Babysitting
> 5. Over-sleeping
> 6. Car Trouble/traffic problems
> 7. Staying home to do homework
> 8. Staying home because of staying up late the previous
> night (even if related to school activities - drama, dance,
> sports, etc.)
> If a legitimate, medically documented, long-term
> illness prevents you from attending school, your
> parent/guardian should contact the school so tutorial
> services can be provided by the school department at no
> cost to parents. Parents of students with a high rate of
> absenteeism (more than 10&37; of the total number of school
> days up to that point) will be notified by the heatlh
> technician to determine if a health problem exits, and she
> or he will recommend a medical consultation. If no health
> problem exists and absences continue, supervisors will
> contact parents. If there is no improvement in attendance,
> the following steps may be taken:
> 1. Parent/student conference with an administrator
> 2. Referral to the Student Attendance & Review Board (SARB)
> 3. Referral to Probation Officer
>
>
> VACATION TRIPS
> Absences due to vacation trips are not excused.
> Before making vacation plans, parents should consult the
> school calendar. Parents are strongly discouraged from
> taking their children out of school for family vacations
> because valuable classroom instruction time can never be
> replaced by make-up assignments. When parents decide to
> take their children out of school for vacations, they must
> notify the school of their intentions. Because such
> extended absences are not excused, students are expected to
> request and make-up their work upon their return.
>
> DISMISSALS
> Dismissals from school for important reasons should
> be requested, in writing, in advance, from school
> supervisors. If you are to be dismissed, a written request,
> including phone number for verification from your parent or
> guardian, should be brought in on the morning of the day in
> question to the Attendance Office. Students who are
> dismissed and return to school the same day must report to
> the Attendance Office in order to be readmitted to class.
> Dental and medical appointments should not be scheduled
> during the school day.
> Because of our concern for student safety, telephone
> requests for dismissal will not be honored. In addition,
> students may not be released to any individual(s) other
> than those listed on the student's emergency card, unless
> written permission is given. Supervisors carry the burden
> of guaranteeing that these norms are respected.
> If you leave school grounds without authorization
> before the end of the school day, you will be considered
> truant and not allowed to return until a parent conference
> is set up with school officials. Your parents and the
> juvenile police officer will be notified immediately of the
> incident. Disciplinary action will be taken, including make-
> up of lost time after school. In case of illness, the
> dismissal of the students must be approved by the health
> official on site.
> Supervisors should chair on-going professional development
> and additional recommended professional development
> trainings.
> VI. Maintain a parent communication log. Contact parents of
> students who missed two or more days within a month and for
> any other individual issues.
> VII. Updated bulletin board with classroom and school rules
> posted.
> VIII. Maintain a safe, secure, print-rich, and clean
> classroom. Student attendance should not be misconstrued as
> just having students show up on campus. These students must
> fulfill their academic obligations, and, therefore, they
> deserve to be given the means they need to succeed.
> In order to render the delivery of instruction a more
> meaningful endeavor, school supervisors must establish a
> fruitful network with all stakeholders. The community, the
> police, businesses, the federal, state, and local
> governments, faculty and staff, students, administrators,
> support staff, and so on, are collaborators of school
> supervisors. If they do not work together, then the running
> of the school, and, of course, its supervision will be far
> from ever being a success.
>
> REFENCES
> Essex, N. School Law and the Public Schools. 2nd edition.
> Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA, 2002.
> Sergiovanni, T. and R. Sarrat, Supervision: a redefinition.
> 7th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 2002.
> Wells, F. School and Classroom Supervision. L.A.U.S.D. 2004.
>