Course-Embedded Internship Summary and Validation Report
Directions: This report should summarize all Course-Embedded Internship Activities that have been recorded in the log forms.  You will submit this completed form in your 12th course. • The Internship requires a minimum of 150 course-embedded hours.    Name: Gina G. Lunsford Total Number of Hours: 150 hours
State Competency Standard	Course Number	Date Completed (Required)	Time Spent on Activity	Description of Activity	Reflection  (150 words or less describing what you learned from this activity) (Required)
II.6	EDLD 5311 Fundamentals of Leadership	12/14/2011	7 hrs	Students will collaborate with the school supervisor and develop the 18 month internship plan.  Plans will be based on self-assessment findings, professional goals, and the unique needs of the intern and school.	In working with my school site supervisor, we developed a plan that we felt I would benefit most from. In developing my plan I looked items I felt could best be completed in my eighteen months of working on my courses, and those that would fit best with my job description and title. I then submitted my plan to my school supervisor and we discussed each item and decided that the plan was a very workable one, and one where I would receive the most benefit. I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this plan throughout my internship and feel I have learned a lot, and, to my surprise, already knew a lot – I guess primarily due to having been in professional education for almost twenty years. In working with this plan, I have found that I am a natural leader, versus a manager, and have already been able to apply my leadership skills to my current role in my school.
II.6	EDLD 5311 Fundamentals of Leadership	12/14/2011	8 hrs	Students develop an educational vita noting all professional experience, education, relevant training, professional organizations, and references.  The vita will become part of the professional portfolio and used to note strengths and areas for further development in devising the internship plan.	I found the development of my professional vita a fairly easy task, as I had already used a similar format in developing my personal resume. However, in working through this document, I am finding the need to add professional organization memberships and professional training to my achievements. I have found adding administrators to my list of references a similar easy task also. I have been fortunate to work with several great administrators who know my commitment to excellence and my experience and knowledge base and are more than willing to commit themselves to helping me in my pursuit of a principal job. This has been the greatest part of working on this vita-finding and working with various administrators that are in different roles in our district (special education director, assistant principal in a high school, principal at an elementary, curriculum director) who have share their knowledge with me and been great mentors in my pursuit of this degree.
II.6	EDLD 5301 Research	2/21/2012	10  hrs	Students engage in identifying an action research topic(s) or research question(s) and designing a draft action plan completing a recommended template or format of a blueprint of the action research plan.	This exercise was the easiest and most fulfilling of all the internship classes I’ve taken. Developing the topic was easy and fit with what we were/are trying to accomplish in our district at the high school level. As I worked on the topic, my site supervisor became excited about it and we developed a plan to implement the actual blueprint I had come up with. In doing the actual research, I found the topic covered very well, and that only added to the ease of developing the plan. My site supervisor and I worked on the details of the plan and devised a way in which we felt we could make it best work in our district and at the high school level (which is where we were going to implement it as our elementary schools and middle school already had a working plan in place). With that, we have begun the process of implementing the plan.
	EDLD 5301	2/21/2012	5 hrs	Students review comments from colleagues and site supervisors and engage in revising their draft action research plan. By the end of Week 5, students should confer with their site supervisor(s) and agree on an action research topic and plan.	In reviewing comments regarding my action research plan from my colleagues and site supervisor, I found I had a working plan that would prove, if successful, to benefit the campus in a tremendous way. My colleagues were excited but speculative about how the plan would be implemented and what their roles would be. They were also concerned about how well received the plan would be with everyone on campus who would actually be involved, but were excited and hopeful and willing to help “sell” the plan to the naysayers and doubters. We worked much like a Professional Learning Community would work and discussed at length through several meetings about how we could make this work, what would be our best course of action, who would be responsible for what, how we could get others on board, and how we would know if we had been successful. The topic and plan were agreed upon and plan was developed for the implementation.
I.1	EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability	7/3/2012	5 hrs	Students create a personal vision of leadership.	I think this may have been one of the more difficult portions of the internship for me, not because I did not/do not have  personal vision of leadership for myself, but how to put it into words that were easily understood and able to implement. I worked with my site supervisor on how to create this personal vision without sounding full of myself or too vague. I also wanted to be clear and concise and something that I could “tweak” as I actually become a leader, without getting too far away from my initial intent. I feel as if I have a good starting point for my personal leadership vision, but I know I have a way to go before I am fully immersed in what it truly means to be a leader and what all that entails.
I.3	EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability	7/3/2012	5 hrs	Students attend a Site-Based Decision-Making (SBDM) meeting, record reflections, and interview the principal and one other staff member regarding collaboration, consensus building strategies, ethical relationships, typical agenda items, etc.	I interviewed one of our elected teachers, who is also a special education teacher at our high school, and our lead principal. The teacher I interviewed felt that our SBDM team was fairly effective in communicating information that the team has been working on to the staff in general. She felt that for the most part, the SBDM team had been working on much of the same things year after year (this is her third year on the team) and that in general, they were only “pencil whipping” information and/or solutions or “tweaking them.” She feels that new leadership (namely the principal) was in order, and would better serve not only the team, but the school as well. I asked her if she felt that anything positive was coming from the SBDM, but she could not think of anything. In speaking with my principal, he felt completely opposite of the teacher. He felt that our SBDM was doing great things, that they had addressed strategies to improve scores, reduce dropout rates, increase attendance, and overall, stimulate a positive feeling among staff about our school. He and I looked at all the reports we have been studying in this class and he felt that was proof of the good work that the SBDM had done.
II.7	EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability	7/3/2012	5hrs	Students demonstrate leadership for accountability by researching best practices, including specific professional development to address a target area and list the strategies and rationale for using each strategy.	In choosing my area of weakness, I have chosen to focus on the 52% passing rate on the TAKS Math test of 10th grade African American students. I have chosen that particular area of weakness because in looking at data, this is a consistent area of weakness where we, as a district and as a campus, see little growth and/or improvement.  S.M.A.R.T. Goal (long range/3-5 years): We, as a campus, will work within our math department as a PLC to provide instruction, remediation, and tutorials for African American students so as to ensure 70% or better passing rates on the state level accountability tests (TAKS and/or STAAR), and will use feedback from those tests over the next 3-5 years to create better lessons, common assessments, and benchmark tests that provide direction as to our curriculum and instruction S.M.A.R.T. Objective (What we want to accomplish in one school year): For the upcoming 2012-2013, African American students taking the exit level math TAKS test will pass with 70% or better.
III.8	EDLD 5333 Leadership for Accountability	7/3/2012	5 hrs	Students conduct a data-based needs assessment. Based on the areas of need identified, students create a campus action plan to address the needs identified including professional development plans, allocation of resources to support the plan, and any tools needed for school improvement efforts	During the week 4 assignment I analyzed my campus AEIS and AYP report, and identified that overall, we as a school, need to improve our math and science scores. Each strategy is connected to a specific timeline during the year. First, I would look at the intervention classes by using a 3rd and 6th week walk through to see how the curriculum is being implemented, look at lesson plans, review common assessments and benchmark data, and discuss with teachers how things are progressing. Second, I would look at the Prime Time Tutoring data (lists of students attending and their score improvements/failures per six weeks) to see if progress is being made, and if not, what we need to do to “beef up” our tutoring of those students. Last, I would attend at least 2 of the calculator camp sessions to see what rate of participation for at risk students we have, what strategies and skills are being taught, and then look at any assessment data as it relates to this camp to see if actual improvement is being attained. The strategies suggested for my campus action plan had a $6000 budget.  The cost for after school calculated to $2038 for materials and $1800 total for Saturday school.  The cost for 4 days of professional development was budgeted at $2000 for the school year.
II.4	EDLD 5333- Leadership for Accountability	7/3/2012	5 hrs	Students conduct a data-driven, comprehensive needs assessment using the latest AYP and AEIS data, a multi-year history of this data, and a comparable improvement report.	AYP and AEIS data play a big role in helping schools determine areas of weakness. By looking at the data, principals can analyze trends, relationships, and barriers.  Once the data has been reviewed, campus improvement goals should be created. The goals should follow S.M.A.R.T. - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  Principals can analyze the data and focus on areas of weakness and guide the way to campus improvement by conducting meetings that allow staff to participate in the goal creating process and lead them to a better understanding of what needs to happen to ensure improvement. In this week’s assignment, I reviewed my campus’s AEIS report.  My campus achieved an Academically Acceptable rating for 2011.  My campus is mostly African American and Economically Disadvantaged and these are the two categories that we scored the lowest in as compared to the other subgroups.  As a campus we took at decrease in every category and sub category from 2010 to 2011 causing our rating to drop from Recognized to Academically Acceptable.  On a positive note, my campus received Gold Performance Acknowledgements for Attendance.
II.6	EDLD 5344 School Law	5/11/2012	15 hrs	Application of learning by designing a remediation to a situation you would like to improve in your school. In your School-Based Analysis, you familiarized yourself with special education policies in your state and school district. For your Application, you will use this knowledge as you follow a fictional student, Joseph, who has just enrolled at your school. You will develop an Individualized Education Program for “Joseph,” monitor how her program is implemented in the classroom, and use your knowledge of student rights and school management to make sound decisions when she engages in behavior that calls for disciplinary action. This assignment will require you to use knowledge gained from your lectures and readings, and from communication with leaders at your school, including your principal, special education coordinator, and classroom teachers. Your final step will be to make suggestions about how management policies and procedures for special education students at your school can be improved. In all instances, you are expected to cite relevant law and/or policy that you used to formulate your answers.	I developed an IEP and monitored how his program is implemented in the classroom.  He qualified for special education services based on previous assessments which should have been completed within the past three years.  Due to the fact that he is a transfer student his new placement will review the previous district’s assessment and decide to either accept the previous district’s assessment and the resulting diagnosis or conduct their own assessment.  The assessment and the previous IEP documentation generally covers needed related services. However, if a member of the ARD committee deems that additional related services are needed the ARD committee to make a recommendation for a referral for the related services to determine if it is needed. I also monitored how the program is implemented in the classroom, and used my knowledge of student rights and school management to make sound decisions when the student engaged in behavior that calls for disciplinary action.
I.3	EDLD 5345 Human Resource Mgt	8/19/2012	5 hrs	Students review Chapter 247 of the Texas Administrative Code, "Educators' Code of Ethics," conduct observations and/or interviews in your school, and use the results of those observations interviews to complete the "Code of Ethics Mind walk."	It is important that as teachers we exhibit good ethic behavior for students as we expect them to display good behavior.  In this course we answered questions with the “Code of Ethic Mind Walk” to question our own ethics as educators.  Ethics are important issues with educators and administrators to have their own personal ethics especially ones that meet all legal issues.
II.6	EDLD 5345 Human Resource Mgt	8/19/2012	5 hrs	Students conduct an interview with an administrator at their school regarding strategies for recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and administrators.	In EDLD 5345, I conducted an interview with my assistant principal regarding strategies for recruiting and retaining high quality teachers and administrators.   This district has very little turnover even though salaries are not as competitive as other districts in the Region. However, there tends to be ample job satisfaction overall and most teachers consider it a pleasure to work in this district.
II.6	EDLD 5345 Human Resource Mgt	8/19/2012	5 hrs	Students access the policies and procedures in place in their district related to teacher mentoring programs by accessing the district's webpage or contacting district Human Resources Office and reflect on the policies in place for mentoring induction.	The school district has a set mentoring program where every new teacher has a mentor.The district also has a program for teachers new to the district, but not new to teaching called the buddy system.  When a teacher is new to the district they have a buddy teacher and are part of a district wide training program for 2 years.  Both programs meet about 4 times a year to discuss any issues that the teachers are currently having. On my campus the teachers meet every week to discuss concerns and accomplishments.
II.6	EDLD 5345 Human Resource Mgt	8/19/2012	5 hrs	Students complete the Cultural Proficiency Receptivity Scale, use the Cultural Proficiency Professional Development Rubric to assess the level of professional development at their campus or workplace, and identify and describe where and how their campus has responded to each of the elements of Cultural Proficiency	In this course, the Cultural Proficiency Receptive Scale displayed the effectiveness of dealing with diversity on the campus.  Every year our campus starts the school year off with a diversity professional development.  This development helps teachers learn how to deal with the diverse students that attend my campus.  Teachers also commit to providing a diversified campus to relate to the student population.
I.2	EDLD 5326 School Community Relations	3/30/2012	5 hrs	Students develop a plan for a family-school-community partnership(s) to increase student achievement	Community members, parents, faculty and staff were invited to attend a Pre-Meeting for our yearly held Student Success Fair (the Student Success Fair is held yearly to meet with students currently identified as At Risk. Each student meets with a grade level counselor or me-the Special Education Department Coordinator-to discuss ways to improve their academic success, prevent failures, increase and/or address attendance, inform them of tutoring programs available, and answer any questions that they may have). At this meeting we stress the importance of community volunteers and sponsors to help get the word out regarding the fair, encourage them to volunteer (food, door prizes), and enlist their on-going support. School club sponsors/leaders were asked to help with getting the word out and providing booths to give information to the attending parents/students on how their student can become involved in campus extra-curricular activities or clubs. The clubs were also asked to help with providing babysitting for families with small children. The meeting/presentation wraps up everyone’s understanding of their part and how they can help us encourage parents to attend.
I.2	EDLD 5326 School Community Relations	3/30/2012	5 hrs	Students develop a presentation to be given to key stakeholders in their school that emphasizes the importance of parental-community involvement to student achievement.	I learned that identifying key stakeholders is crucial in the success of implementing new initiatives on a campus. The stakeholders in my family-school-community partnership are the campus principal, community members, parents, staff members, and students. As a leader, I would invite my identified stakeholders to attend a presentation on effective implementation on an effective parental involvement committee. My goal would be to increase student achievement through parent involvement.  Therefore, I would make sure all stakeholders were aware of the benefits of having a parental involvement committee.  Working together collaboratively with parents, teachers, and the community will increase student achievement overall.
I.1	EDLD 5339 Organization and Mgt Issues	4/3/2013	5 hrs	Students interview two school leaders regarding campus organization and management and Site-Based Decision-Making (SBDM) policies and procedures, which include issues of campus vision and mission.	I interviewed several principals at several campuses on organization and management and Site-Based Decision-Making (SBDM) policies and procedures.  As many things were the same there were also some differences that were visible on the campuses.
III.9	EDLD 5339 Organization and Mgt Issues	4/3/2013	5 hrs	Students analyze the scheduling process in place on the campus and weigh the effects of the schedule on campus goals, objectives, and student needs.	In the area of master schedule management, they incorporate behaviors, lunch schedules and bus routes in creating the master schedule.  All of the schools/principals interviewed use a computer software to create the master schedule.  The interviewed principals noted that the main purpose of the master schedule is to make effective use of time, staff, students, and instructional time.  In addition, the master schedules are created at the end of the previous school year and completed a month before school starts.
III.9	EDLD 5339 Organization and Mgt Issues	4/3/2013	5 hrs	Students analyze campus goals and objectives and the use of resources such as time and personnel to address the issues of a safe and productive school environment.	In the management of facilities area, the following district level departments provide support for facility management: Building and Properties, Career and Technical Education, Central Receiving, Child Nutrition, Facilities Planning and Construction, Health Services, Maintenance, Police, Purchasing, Risk Management, Safe and Secure Schools, and Technology Services.  .  Each department has policies and procedures in place that are followed at the campus level by various campus leaders.  All of the campuses use a crisis team, safe and secure, fire drills, lock downs, and shelter in place as facility management supports.  The campuses are monitored and evaluated with building walks and communication with administrators, leadership team, custodians, and office staff.
II.6	EDLD 5388 Diverse Learners	11/10/2012	6 hrs	Students conduct a teacher quality survey which looks at factors such as the years of teaching experience of campus teachers, degrees held (bachelor or master), teacher ethnicity, compared with ethnicity of students and community demographics and prepare a report of their findings.	In looking at this survey, particularly in this district, and in talking with my colleagues and site supervisor about this survey as it pertains to my internship, I found it interesting that our turnover rate is not significant, and that job satisfaction is pretty high on our campus. Teachers feel that we are making great strides in educating our students. Teachers felt that obtaining higher education degrees such as Masters or Doctorates, is valued and encouraged. They feel that while at our campus, ethnicity is not as diverse as it could be, diversity is valued and encouraged, but not just for the sake of being diverse. All the teachers surveyed were/are highly qualified in their subject area taught, and are teaching in the fields in which they obtained degrees. Number of years varies from many to a few, but again, turnover is not at a premium. The teachers surveyed were very willing to participate and offered great insight into our district’s staffing procedures and policies.
II.7	EDLD 5388 Diverse Learners	11/10/12	5 hrs	Students discuss state and federal legal requirements for Response-to-Intervention (RTI) policy and make application of RTI through a case study process	Response to Intervention is near and dear to my heart – and to my current assignment in my district. As Special Education Department Coordinator, I work with the current campus administrators and counselors in helping identify students who may or may not need special education services. In the past two years we (me and my site supervisor) have worked diligently to “enforce” the RTI process on our campus. I have learned a great deal about differentiated instruction and what that looks like. I have learned how to help others also recognize if and how they are differentiating instruction in their classroom, and if not, train them in ways in which they can accomplish this. I’ve learned about the tiers and the processes that each tier requires before moving a student who is not succeeding to the next tier. The entire RTI experience is one where I feel I have benefited greatly because of how it helps others take action first, in their classroom to ensure that all students are learning – and not just “jumping the gun” to refer them to special education.
I.1	EDLD 5352 Instructional Leadership	2/16/2013	6 hrs	In this School-Based Application, the student will look at the strengths and weaknesses of your campus as you examine and apply data from the Texas Campus STaR Chart, a technology data-gathering tool provided by the state. You will complete a three-year comparison of Texas Campus STaR Chart data from your campus with statewide summary data. Like the resources you utilized in your Analysis assignment, the STaR chart will prove useful as you become an instructional leader.	Overall we believe that our district is doing an excellent job in the area of technology. We are using various forms of technology in our classrooms (podcasts and IPads are two that are very common currently). Our students are excelling in the mastery of their content with the use of the technology afforded them. As technology pertains to our special education department, we have found that our special education teachers are using technology routinely with their students and finding greater success in mastery of the content taught. Our homebound students access their classes via podcasts, which help with the homebound teachers being able to serve the students better, because they also have access to the podcasts and can reinforce the classroom teacher’s instruction. One area where we struggle is with our more experienced staff being willing to integrate technology to its fullest extent in the classroom. This is primarily true at our high school, where many of our teachers still use the lecture format to teach. Our district is seeking to find ways to help these teachers get more on board with technology. Our technology department fully supports our technology needs and requests. Overall, our district is doing very well with technology use.
II.4	EDLD 5335 Curriculum Mgt	12/21/2012	5 hrs	Students describe Curriculum Management Audit standards, compare the audit standards to the campus curriculum program, and make suggestions for improvement of academic performance through use of the audit the standards.	I have become familiar with curriculum audits, which before this course, I had no prior knowledge. Since an audit will bring change to the way things are done on my campus, it is helpful to be aware of the stages teachers go through as they adapt to those changes. It has also been beneficial to plan a learner-centered staff development that addresses an area of needed improvement on our campus.  Teachers must be informed, trained, and actively involved in their learning to successfully implement any curriculum.   An aligned learner-centered curriculum which is managed well by the instructional leader within a positive school culture making use of productive, well-functioning professional learning communities will lead to students achieving more educationally.
II.5	EDLD 5335 Curriculum Mgt	12/21/12	5 hrs	Students use set criteria to evaluate a teacher's edition of a textbook or a curriculum guide for a content area or a campus objective selected for a learner-centered staff development experience.	As part of my staff development activity, math teachers will work collaboratively examine AEIS data and determine an area of low performance in 10th/11th grade math.  This would also be time to work in evaluating the 10th grade Holt Teacher’s Edition and have them focus in on assessing the chapter or lesson addressing the learning objective that they have chosen to give extra attention to in their math instruction.  In assessing their classroom resources, areas of weakness within the material can be identified and strengthened.  Using Gizmos, inquiry-based simulations online can provide needed instruction enhancement or reinforcement of a math objective.
II.4	EDLD 5335 Curriculum Mgt	12/21/2012	4 hrs	Students describe Curriculum Management Audit standards, compare the audit standards to the campus curriculum program, and make suggestions for improvement of academic performance through use of the audit the standards.	When a school goes thru a curriculum management audit it will have the opportunity to evaluate every aspect of the school.  Effective audits can serve as a valuable tool of the process and system in place within a district.  It is an opportunity to get outside feedback.  CMA can provide a district with the data necessary to support the development of centralized processes to support and improve district curriculum management practices and procedures.  It can also help point a district in the right direction by directing the alignment of written expectations and instructional practices, thereby increasing student achievement and learning, the ultimate goal of schools.   I would recommend that every campus conduct a Curriculum Management Audit.  The objectivity required of such an audit allows districts and campuses the opportunity to see things in a new a different perspective. The audit process brings the campus together for a common goal to help the students.  There is always room for improvement.
II.5	EDLD 5335 Curriculum Mgt	12/21/2012	4 hrs	Students use set criteria to evaluate a teacher's edition of a textbook or a curriculum guide for a content area or a campus objective selected for a learner-centered staff development experience.	In this course, we completed the preliminary organization of the learner-centered staff development session.  The session purpose was to understand the importance of and how to use data driven decision making to create learner-centered objectives and lesson plans so as to create differentiated lesson plans for targeted groups of students.  My learning objective to address was to create a preliminary plan by each teacher using data driven decision making to address targeted student needs.