3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
Pittsburg State University
Special Services and Leadership Studies
SSLS 997 - Practicum in Educational Leadership
The practicum in educational leadership 997 is based on individual laboratory and field work
in various organizational settings suitable for the development of leadership skills though
mentoring relationships. The student takes the lead in initiating the follow through on all
activities.
Purposes of the Practicum Experience
The purpose of the practicum is to place the student in a setting where s/he can both observe
and participate in the varied tasks and duties of a district level administrator. In addition,
various course projects are assigned which cause the candidate to be active and involved, and
not merely an observer of school leadership activities.
Course Objectives
Students will:
1. Be exposed to a comprehensive view of district leadership perspectives in education
field-based setting
2. Experience actual leadership tasks and situations
3. Gain actual administrative experiences
4. Begin to establish an educational leadership philosophy through observation and
practice
5. Deepen their knowledge base through a daily practice of professional reading
6. Assist in developing staff development activities for themselves and for other
educators
7. Deepen their understanding of the “big picture” of district leadership and how
systems interact
8. Learn how to utilize the practice of self-reflection in order to continually improve
9. Gain experience at working with the varying sets of individuals that comprise the
major stakeholders of the educational community
The Role of the Student
The graduate student completing the practicum activities as a part of his/her program
leading to a recommendation for district certification in Educational Leadership must:
A. Become acquainted with aspects of district school administration
B. Complete all duties and responsibilities assigned by the practicum coordinator
C. Keep and submit all assignments as outlined in course SSLS 901, SSLS 902,
SSLS 903, SSLS 997& SSLS 998. While the courses are outlined to fit within the
higher education structure the experience is a total combination of the courses
listed
D. Complete all assigned readings and attend on-campus sessions with the practicum
coordinator as specified
3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
E. Learn to adequately utilize technology to support the role and responsibilities of
educational leaders
The Role of the Mentor Support Facilitators
The university relies on area practitioners to assist in the development of the Educational
Leadership student through the practicum experience. Several certified administrators
will work with the practicum student by:
A. Guiding and directing the student’s daily activities
B. Sharing his/her skills and knowledge while directing the activities of the practicum
student
C. Relaying the importance of the practicum experiences to the local Board of
Education, staff, and other personnel as necessary
D. Seeking out opportunities to allow the student to experience “hands –on”
leadership tasks that are appropriate
The Role of the Practicum Coordinator
The university professor who supervises and evaluates the overall practicum experience,
working with the mentor and the practicum student will:
1. Disseminate all necessary components of the practicum to the student and
mentors
2. Maintain contact with the student and the mentor throughout the duration of the
semester
3. Make on-site visits as needed to support and enhance the student’s practicum
experience
4. Critique all written correspondence from the student
5. Conduct an end-of-semester “debriefing” with the student in order to evaluate the
overall effectiveness of the process
Teaching Strategies
Due to the nature of the practicum experience, direct instruction during this course will
be limited to those times when all practicum students meet. The field-based experiences
are in a variety of educational leadership settings and designed to extend the learning and
knowledge base by active participation.
Student Responsibilities: Students are expected to do graduate-level work and to conduct
themselves professionally at all times during course activities. This experience is a
culminating activity in leadership and the student shall demonstrate the initiative to find
solutions and alternatives to meet the requirements of this experience.
Evaluation of Student Learning
The practicum in Educational Leadership is a pass/fail class. Thus, all students who
successfully complete the program will be expected to fully participate and to do quality
work. The following activities and experiences are minimal expectations.
3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
Practicum Log: The student is required to log his/her time to document that the required
number of hours for the internship is completed. The log is to be submitted at least three
times during the semester.
4. Log of Activities -- List any activity related to district leadership in which you
participate. You must log a minimum of 75 hours each in the Fall and Spring
semesters for a total of 150 hours.
Date
Aug.15
April 12
April 14
Activity
District Admin. Meeting
Review District Budget
Directed Reading
Time Spent
75 min.
50 min.
55 min.
Cum. Time Total
75 min.
2 hours 5 min.
2 hours 40 min.
Practicum – 997
Answer the following for each area – Teacher Administration Classified Staff
Standard 2
FB 1 – Report on staff/professional development process for your district
 How and by whom or what groups are staff/professional development activities
determined? What data are used? How are the data used?
 Enumerate specific human and fiscal resources allocated for these activities.
 How are activities assessed? Is the assessment effective? How could it be more
effective? What changes in professional development have been made based on
the results of the assessments?
 Briefly review the literature on developing effective professional development.
What are the key components or features?
 Recommendations
o What changes need to be made in your district’s professional
development program?
o Based on the literature, what should your district’s main goals or change
initiatives be in its professional development program?
Standard 2
FB 2 – Report on curricula/program review process
 Provide a flow chart demonstrating your district’s process for curriculum
revision, addition and/or deletion. Identify at each step the people who are
involved.
 What significant changes in curriculum have been made in the past two years?
 Recommendations
Standard 1
Standard 2
FB 3 – Report on technology
 Identify how technology is used to aid instruction and increase LEARNING in:
o Regular education
o Special education
o Vocational education
3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
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Provide a flow chart of the process for revising, updating, replacing and/or
removing technologies
o Identify at each step who is involved
Show how the technology budget is prepared and administered
What significant changes have been made in your district’s technology program
in the past two years?
Briefly review the literature in relation to effective use of technology in
increasing learning.
Recommendations
Standard 3
FB 4 – Report on transportation services
 Number of buses
 Does your district have a depreciation schedule or list of all buses with specific
data for each bus, i.e., make, model, year, mileage, maintenance history, etc.? If
possible provide a copy.
 Number of daily routes
 Number of students transported
 Driver salaries and schedules
 Training programs
 How are routes determined?
 How are students transported for co-curricular and extracurricular activities?
 How is the transportation budget prepared and administered? Who does this?
 Recommendations
Standard 3
FB 5 – Report on Food Services
 Number of meals served for breakfast and lunch for both students and adults
 Training programs
 Food service salaries
 How the food service budget is prepared and administered? Who does this?
 Cost analysis – food and supply purchase, preparation, delivery, meals produced
per labor hour, equipment, etc.
 Compare the federal reimbursement for free and reduced meals, the cost to
produce each meal and the cost charged to students and adults for meals served
 Recommendations
Standard 2
Standard 3
FB 6 – Report on health services
 Programs including responsive services, screenings, etc.
 Staff of nurses, aides, clerks or others
 Curriculum including student education, parent education, newsletters, etc.
 Show how the health services budget is prepared and administered.
 Recommendations
Standard 2
FB 7 – Report on extended learning opportunities including summer school, before and
after-school services, extra support in core subjects during the regular school day and
other programs or strategies to assist struggling learners.
3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
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Standard 2
Standard 3
Standard 6
Indentify program
Participants
Cost analysis
How are the programs assessed?
Briefly review the literature and best practices regarding assistance to struggling
learners.
Recommendations
FB 8 – Report on available district activities
 Extracurricular and co-curricular programs
 Student services
 Salaries and program costs
 Show how budgets for these activities are prepared and administered
 Recommendations
Standard 2
Standard 3
Standard 5
FB 9 – Report on the process for receiving and hearing complaints and grievances.
 Staff
 Students
 Recommendations
Standard 1
Standard 2
Standard 3
Standard 4
Standard 6
FB 10 – Observe two school board meetings other than your own district and report.
 Provide copies of any programs and/or agendas
 Outline the board room physical arrangements
 Comments and observations
 Recommendations
Standard 4
Standard 5
Standard 6
FB 11 – Interview superintendent or designee and discuss “Executive Sessions”
 List the seven reasons for executive session per Kansas law or 13 reasons under
Missouri law
 Legal and ethical considerations
 Tips for keeping the sessions focused and on topic
Standard 2
Standard 3
Standard 4
FB 12 – Identify an outstanding elementary, middle, and high school facility design
 How was the site selected?
 How was the design determined? Who was involved? How?
 Review reasons you consider the design outstanding
 Cost – by area
o Site selection, purchase and site preparation
o Construction
o Furniture
o Equipment
Standard 2
Standard 3
Standard 4
FB 13 – Report on a construction bond issue
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Standard 3
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Standard 6
Standard 1
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Standard 6
Standard 1
How was the scope of project determined?
Pre-vote activity
Organization
Architect’s role
Campaign and campaign financing
Post-vote activities
Construction phase
Occupancy
Recommendations
FB 14 – Complete “ADA Assessment” of a building – Using these websites choose
two of the survey forms to evaluate your building. Cut and paste the completed
form into Angel.
www.access-board.gov
www.ada.gov
www.ncd.gov
www.justice.gov
 Survey forms:
Survey form 1: Parking
Survey form 2: Passenger Loading Zone
Survey form 3: Exterior Accessible Routes
Survey form 4: Curb Ramps
Survey form 5: Drinking Fountains
Survey form 6: Telephones
Survey form 7: Ramps
Survey form 8: Stairs
Survey form 9: Platform Lifts
Survey form 10: Entrances and Exits (Areas of Rescue Assistance)
Survey form 11: Doors and gates
Survey form 12: Building Lobbies and Corridors (Interior Accessible
Route)
Survey form 13: Elevators
Survey form 14: Rooms and Spaces
Survey form 15: Assembly Areas
Survey form 16: Toilet Rooms and Bathrooms
Survey form 17: Bathtubs and Showers
Survey form 18: Dressing and Fitting Rooms
Survey form 19: Signage
Survey form 20: Alarms
Survey form 21: Detectable Warning
 Recommendations for compliance and actions taken to comply
3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
Standard 1
Standard 2
Standard 3
Standard 4
Standard 6
FB 15 – Reflect on building tours – Visit and Report on one elementary school, one
middle school, and one high school.
 Describe the school culture
 Describe the school climate
 Describe the positive ideas you observed
 Describe the items you might want to avoid
 Describe any points of interest worth noting
 Recommendations
Standard 1
FB 16 – Report on district’s long-term strategic plan
 Review the current plan
 How was it developed?
 How is it assessed?
 How does the district update the plan?
 Recommendations
Standard 1
Standard 2
FB 17 – Report on the special education program
 Review processes for referrals, interventions, testing, placement and reevaluation
 Reviews funding sources for special education and integration of services with
non-special education services.
 What percentage of the student population has IEPs? How does that compare to
state and national averages? If your district’s percentage is different from state
and national averages, why?
 Recommendations
Standard 1
Standard 2
Standard 2
Standard 3
FB 18 – Report on State and Federal Programs
 Create a table listing state and federal programs by name, i.e. Title I, funding
amounts and general purposes.
 Identify ways state and federal programs are integrated with the general
curriculum.
 Describe the learning interactions that are in place to track every student’s
learning.
FB 19 – As superintendent you have received a recommendation from the high school
principal to suspend a student for one year for possession of a gun at school.
 Review the legal implications of:
o A suspension that exceeds ten days,
o Federal guidelines defining a weapon, and the
o Requirement for one-year suspension
 Outline the process you would follow to communicate with:
o Principal,
o Student and parent(s),
o School attorney,
o Board of Education, and
o Media
3.5h District Leadership First Practicum Guidelines
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