EDUC 5312_Blog #1_Role of a Central Office Supervisor

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   Role of a Central Office Supervisor

                          

How can Central Office Supervisors impact instruction? 

“Central Office administrators provide leadership, coordination, support, and resources creating coherent, system-wide improvement efforts that result in high standards of achievement for all students” (Google). 

Central Office Supervisors have the responsibility to facilitate professional development decisions within their district. Also, they should coordinate professional development meetings within school leaders such as principals, vice principals, lead teachers, subject lead teachers, and curriculum leaders within the schools (Sharp School, n.d.).  

A tool kit for New Jersey educators from Sharp School described the roles and responsibilities central office supervisors should have.  I have posted them below: 

  1. 1. “Building capacity of school staff to make   sound decisions about professional development”  

  1. 2. “Providing research and models of best practices regarding professional development”  

  1. 3. “Allocating resources to schools to support their learning plans”  

  1. 4. “Coordinating efforts between and among schools”  

  1. 5. “Coordinating the formation of cross-school collaborative professional learning teams”  

  1. 6. “Supporting collaborative professional learning teams”  

  1. 7. “Monitoring implementation throughout the district” 

I totally agree with this information.  Every district has its own Central Office, but sometimes I think that their time is allocated more on office work than on helping schools, especially education leaders with curriculum material resources (e.g. science lab material), professional development meetings, and curriculum instructional resources (e.g. hands on materials).   

It is like a domino effect, if one falls, all the others follow along.  If the first piece of the domino set has a strong foundation, then all the other pieces that follow will follow along. That knowledge will be passed from person to person or department to department.  

Central office supervisors can make a big, positive impact and difference if they focus more on providing more information, meetings, and resources to schools within the district.  They should be meeting on a regular basis with principals of all the schools in the district at least once a month.  The principals then have to meet with their teachers and lead teachers at their schools to pass along the information given to them from the Central Office Supervisors.  

Professional development meetings should be conducted at each school at least once or twice a month during their “preparation class time”.

                             

          

Overall, Central Office Supervisors can impact instruction dramatically because principals need to feel supported by them. Most of the time, principals feel unappreciated, alone, and pressured due to the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) mandated test in Texas.  They feel stressed out and that stress is passed along to the rest of the school administration, staff, and teachers.  Kind of like a domino effect I mentioned before.  But, if the principals have the moral and professional support they need from the Central Office Supervisors, everything will go at ease.  

Central Office Supervisors’ role is to facilitate principal’s burden and give them tools so that their students are well prepared not only to pass the STAAR test, but prepare them for life!  

Like Hargreaves and Fink explain, “the prime responsibility of all education leaders is to put in place learning that engages students intellectually, socially, and emotionally. Sustainable leadership goes beyond temporary gains in achievement scores to create lasting, meaningful improvements in learning” (2004, p. 3).    

                          Resources:

                                  Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2004, April 1). The Seven principles of sustainable leadership. ASCD, 61(7), 1-21.                    

                                                https://ascd.org/el/articles/the-seven-principles-of-sustainable-leadership

                                        Samuels, C. A. (2012, April 23). How central office staff can support principal leadership. Education Week.

                                               https://www.edweek.org/leadership/how-central-office-staff-can-support-principal-leadership/2012/04

                                        Schmoker, M. (2019, March 1). Embracing the power of less. ASCD, 76(6), 1-17. 

                                             https://ascd.org/el/articles/embracing-the-power-of-less

                                         Sharp School. Role of central office (n.d.). Collaborative professional learning in school and beyond: A tool kit for New Jersey 

                                         educators. 



                                               


                                     

 

  

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