Discuss the actions you would suggest to the principal to turn this situation around and explain your reasoning.

Discuss the actions you would suggest to the principal to turn this situation around and explain your reasoning.

Anytime an employee quits or is forced to resign there is bound to be some sort of backlash or negative response involved, whether it be from co-workers or the public. The athletic director oversees the hiring of coaches and determining the sports activities in which the school participates. He has the autonomy to make most decisions regarding the schools’ athletic programs and when things are brought to light, especially when it comes to money, the public does not always understand. When subordinates engage in behavior they know to be misconduct, they are likely to expect to be punished (Ball et al, 1994). In this case, it is unknown how long the athletic director has been in this position, but it is safe to say that he has apparently made a good impression on members of the community, faculty, staff, and students.

The first thing I will need to do is re-assure the community and parents that the decisions that were made were in the best interests of the students, the school district as a whole, and the community. Plan a meeting, that can be held at the school, inviting the public to ask questions, voice their concerns, and provide any ideas they think would ease the tensions. Building a good rapport with the external stakeholders will require identifying ways of benefiting from the knowledge parents and families bring to school communities, share information on how parents can successfully work with schools, and assist parents in becoming more involved in their child’s education (Burbank, M.D., and Hunter, R., 2008). The main areas of focus for the meeting should be student education, with athletics following.

To boost employee morale, I will likely have to get creative seeing as the decline in attendance is likely due solely to the resignation of the athletic director. Employee morale has been linked to intrinsic factors such as security and ability utilization (Huysman 2008). Many employees may have a feeling that they may not have as much job security as they thought if the athletic director was forced out.

The increase in student absences and behavioral infractions can be directly linked to the low morale of the staff. Andrews (1985) asserted that teachers with high morale put more work into their jobs and students. Students who had good relationships with their teachers felt a closer connection with teachers with high morale because these teachers showed a deeper interest in their development, thus possibly increasing achievement (Andrews, 1985).

Miller (1981) maintained that student learning and teacher morale were related to a positive school culture that was characterized by respect, shared decision making, communication, and administrative support. Since the decrease in morale is somewhat indirectly related to job satisfaction, the incentives that I could offer would be things like gifts cards or certificates, appreciation plaques, luncheons, etc. Monetary rewards have been identified in reward literature as the most practical and appealing motivational strategy (Gagne & Deci, 2005). I would also remind staff of their contractual obligations as well.

Parental involvement is portrayed as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that occurs within two main sites: the home and the school (Jezierski, S., and Wall, G., 2019). Parent involvement can assist with getting students to return to the classroom on a regular basis. It can also assist in determining the cause of the behavioral infractions and provide possible solutions. It is imperative that parents understand how vital they are in the education process. The purpose of the proposed meeting is twofold: informing the public of the current situation and getting parents involved to help rectify the problems that have unfortunately been created by the departure of the athletic director.

Behavioral interventions within classroom settings are viewed as imperative for supporting student success. The effective implementation of behavioral strategies in classrooms requires multiple key components. First, teaching strategies grounded in applied behavior analysis (ABA) principles have demonstrated effectiveness in improving academic outcomes and social-emotional skills for students.

Second, the student-teacher relationship must be acknowledged, as it plays an important role in reducing behavioral concerns among students in the classroom. Third, the consultation process supports teachers in implementing classroom-based behavioral interventions with a high degree of fidelity (Yassine et.al, 2020). The use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) strategies, such as differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) procedures, have been used in classrooms for reducing individual student problem behaviors (Buckley and Newchock, 2006; Fahmie et al., 2013). These interventions can only be used if there are teachers present to implement them. Getting the teachers motivated to be present both physically and mentally is going to be key in the correction of deviant behavior.

Current efforts to reduce student absenteeism in both preschool and K–12 settings have largely been family- and parent-focused interventions. Yet, interventions targeting teachers and schools may similarly be effective tools to improve student attendance (Hanno, E.C., and Gonzalez, K.E. 2020). Missing more days of school leads to lower academic achievement in reading and math (Gottfried, 2010) and reduces educational and social engagement (Gottfried, 2014). The effects of absenteeism are not limited to those children missing school, as absenteeism also negatively affects the outcomes of children in classrooms with many chronically absent peers (Gottfried, 2015). A variety of interventions directly taking aim at student absenteeism have emerged in the last decade focused on ecological factors such as attendance-related parental perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors (Robinson, Lee, Dearing, & Rogers, 2018; Rogers & Feller, 2018; Smythe-Leistico & Page, 2018).

Moreover, the majority of such interventions have targeted student attendance directly (e.g., providing parents with information on attendance) rather than addressing potential indirect precursors to attendance (e.g., parental perception of preschool’s importance, teacher quality, or student engagement). A noted exception to the latter point is the Connect-Text intervention presented by Smythe-Leistico and Page (2018), which, in addition to providing information on children’s attendance via text messages to parents, also provided parents reminders about school events and offered encouragement to try particular learning activities with children.

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