Urban Educational Leadership Program

15

UEL Program

Urban Educational Leadership Program

Preliminary Hearing Document

*Updated*

Carri A. Schneider

University of Cincinnati

Spring 2006

Proposed Doctoral Committee Membership

Dr. Kent Seidel- Chairperson

Dr. Mary Brydon-Miller

Dr. Roger Collins

Dr. Mark Gooden

Table of Contents

Curriculum Vitae...... 3

Professional Goal Statement 8

Required UEL Doctoral Program Coursework 13

Description of Internship 13

Research Tools 14

Dissertation 14

Classes Transferred in from Masters Degree (Completed June 2004) 15

Schedule of Coursework by Quarter 16

Calendar of Events 18

Coursework Summaries 19

Summary of Coursework by Level (Before Transfer Hours) 19

Summary of Coursework by Level (With Transfer Hours from Masters) 19

Total Hours in Graduate Study 19

Proposed Committee Members 20

Carri A. Schneider

Curriculum Vitae

Personal Information
Carri A. Schneider
18 East Fourth Street Suite 501
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Email:
Webpage: http://homepages.uc.edu/~schneca
Education and Licensure
Ed.D. in Urban Educational Leadership, projected June 2007
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
GPA (ABD): 4.0
M.Ed. in Educational Administration, June 2004
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Licensure: Principal (Praxis Score 810)
GPA: 4.0
B.S. in Elementary Education, December 1999
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio
Licensure: Teacher 1-8
Thematic Sequence: Cultural Studies and Public Life
Senior Capstone Research Project: Multicultural Education
GPA: 3.67 Major: 3.88
Research Interests
Educational Policy Research and Analysis, Educational Leadership, Teacher Preparation, Minority Suburbanization, Closing the Achievement Gap, Community Engagement, The Democratic Purpose of Education
theoretical framework
Feminism, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Race Theory, Marxism
Methodology
Feminist-informed Participatory Action Research, PhotoVoice, Qualitative & Quantitative Methods
Publications
Schneider, C. Applying Critical Race Theory to educational research: One suburban teacher’s view. The Initiative Anthology Online Clearinghouse. Posted July 27, 2005 to http://www.muohio.edu/InitiativeAnthology.
CURRENT PUBLISHING PROJECTS
Wehling, B & Schneider, C.
Edited Book containing chapters by Former Gov. Hunt, Former US Sec. of Education Riley, Diane Ravitch, Nancy Zimpher & Ken Howey, Kent Seidel, Chad Wick that will offer “Perspectives on Public Education Reform”; projected publishing date – Winter 2006
Schneider, C. & Hutchins, B.
Book Chapter Edited by Dr. Lionel Brown on the topic of Black Vernacular and Minority Student Achievement; projected publishing date – 2007
Schneider, C., Hutchins, B., Jenkins, D., & Mussman, M.
Special Issue Article Edited by Dr. Marty Sapp on the Persistence of Racial Disparities in America’s Schools; projected publishing date – Summer 2006
*In addition to these, there are three manuscripts currently being crafted for consideration in the Journal of Thought, Journal of Action Research, and AR Expeditions.
Conference Presentations
Second International Conference of Qualitative Inquiry; University of Champaign-Urbana (May 2006); Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; Participated in First Person Action Research Poster Session
Fifth Annual Ohio Graduate Student/Faculty Conference on Leadership, Culture, and Schooling: Going Public - Radical Resistance in Education (March 2005); Miami University; Oxford, Ohio; Presented paper entitled “Applying Critical Race Theory to educational research: One suburban teacher’s view”.
American Educational Studies Association Annual Conference: Public Education in Democratic Life—An Idea Whose Time Never Came (November 2005); Charlottesville, Virginia; Will present paper entitled “The changing face of suburban schools: Minority suburbanization and its implications for educational leaders”.
Conferences Attended
Urban Education Policy Summit with Jean Anyon (April 2006); John Glenn Institute for Public Policy, The Ohio State University
First Annual North American Action Research Summit (February 2006); University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati Women’s Leadership Conference (February 2005); Co-moderated a session entitled “Success through Integrity”.
Unpublished Research
Schneider, C. (2006). Ohio Core: Analyzing Educational Policy in Ohio.
Schneider, C. (2005). “Minority Suburbanization and its implications for Educational Leaders”.
Schneider, C. (2005). “Rhetoric or reality: Examples of the difference in issues of social equality”.
Schneider, C. (2005). “A Description of the TCP World Academy: An urban educational organization”.
Honors and Awards
AAC&U K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award Nominee
Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 2005
Wall of Tolerance
Alpha Lambda Delta/Phi Eta Sigma National Honorary
Golden Key National Honor Society
Top 15% of Undergraduate Class
Special Projects
Created pamphlets for use by Milford Exempted Village School District for parents and teachers entitled “Understanding AYP”.
Aligned K-6 Milford Exempted Village School District’s Science Course of Study to State of Ohio Academic Content Standards for district use.
Used PhotoVoice in First-Person Action Research Project to define the personal values that define my practice.
Created five workshops on the topic of School Bullying for parents, teachers, and administrators and presented them to Dr. Marvin Berlowitz’s Peace Education Class at University of Cincinnati.
Participated in Problem-Based Learning Exercise that resulted in interactive online map detailing educational statistics of largest urban school districts in each state; available online at http://www.uc.edu/uel
Community Service
American Cancer Society Relay for Life (2006)
Crayons-to-Computers School Supply Drive (2005-Present)
Cincinnati Bar Association Winter Giving Basket (2004-Present)
Boys Hope / Girls Hope Spring Mulching Project (2003-Present)
Nast Trinity Community Dinner (2001-Present)
Ohio Reads Tutor (1998,1999)
teaching and related experience
Course Facilitator
Administrator’s Development Academy
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Summer 2006
Public Policy Intern
KnowledgeWorks Foundation (Philanthropy & Advocacy)
One West Fourth Street Suite 200
Cincinnati, Ohio
September 2005-June 2006
Course Facilitator and Graduate Assistant
Educational Leadership Masters Program (Distance Learning)
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
June 2005-Present
Classroom Teacher; Grade Two
Pattison Elementary School
Milford Exempted Village School District
Milford, Ohio
June 2000-June 2005
Co-Teacher; Grade Two
Milford South Elementary School
Milford Exempted Village School District
Milford, Ohio
January 2000-June 2000
Part-time Teacher
Huntington Learning Center (Pre-K to College)
Harper’s Point
Cincinnati, Ohio
February 2000-August 2000
Undergraduate Senior Internship/Student Teaching
Blue Ash Elementary School; Grade Four
Sycamore Community School District
Cincinnati, Ohio
August 1999-December 1999
Undergraduate Field Experience
Winton Place Elementary; Grade Five
Cincinnati Public Schools
Spring 1998
Professional service
Manuscript Reviewer, Journal of Action Research
Co-recording secretary for ALARPM (Action Learning, Action Research and Process Management Association), an international professional organization for action researchers.
Additional professional Development and activities
Administrator’s Development Academy; Summer 2003
GREEN Teachers Institute; Miami University; Summer 2002
Responsive Classroom I
Supervising Teacher for Mount St. Joseph Pre-Service Teacher
Supervising Teacher for Wilmington College Pre-Service Teacher
Staff Relations Co-Chair
Earth Day Co-Chair
Professional memberships
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
American Educational Studies Association (AESA)
Phi Delta Kappa
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Southern Poverty Law Center
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Professional Goal Statement

It’s no secret that urban organizations, including schools face seemingly insurmountable obstacles in today’s society. Most would agree that the challenges are both numerous and overwhelming. However, it has been my experience that only a few agree that these challenges provide opportunities for learning which could ultimately lead to positive changes in our society at large. The bottom line is simply: something is not working. Whether or not we can move past this recognition of our problems to the greater and much more important question of how we can solve these problems seems to be the charge to future urban educational leaders like myself. In my opinion, the only way to move from the simple detection of a problem on to the more meaningful work of finding solutions is to keep certain principles in mind. It is my goal to become an urban educational leader who leads with the following principles.

First of all, urban education needs strong leaders, not just effective managers (Sergiovanni, 2001). Merely being able to create a school budget, hire and supervise teachers and implement district and state standards is simply not enough. Leaders in urban education need to be able to create followership by working together with the school and larger community stakeholders to create a vision for the school or district (Owens, 2001). I agree with Barth (1990) in that “Leadership is making the things happen that you believe in or envision” (p. 124). It is both this process of creating the vision and the ongoing practice of working toward this vision that will help urban schools to embrace successes and create a dialogue for understanding and solving problems as they inevitably arise. Like many contemporary notions of leadership propose, I believe that leaders must be principle-centered (Covey, 1990). Leaders must both know themselves (Bennis, 2003) and know their communities in order to effectively lead them and to teach students, teachers, parents and community members the skills that they need to ultimately create their own capacity for problem-solving (Evers, 1982).

Secondly, urban educational leaders will never succeed unless they actively engage in problem-solving with all of the stakeholders involved (Evers, 1982). Collaboration is essential to the success of urban educational organizations. It is my goal to be a collaborative leader. Schools need to create partnerships with community leaders and organizations, as well as community “followers”. All voices need to be heard. Students and parents need to feel ownership in the success of the school (Havelock, 1995). This will happen if the members of our urban communities are encouraged to take a more active role in the problem-defining and problem-solving processes that must take place if urban schools are to truly succeed. In order for urban educational leaders to create an environment of collaboration, principles of communication, trust and honesty must remain at the center of all practices in the school setting. We must lead with soul. As Bolman & Deal (2001) remind us, “The heart of leadership lives in the hearts of leaders” (p. 17).

Next, I believe that urban educational leaders must redefine their notions of what constitutes “urban”. It’s my opinion that everyone has a stake in the success of our urban schools. For this reason, I have a broad definition of urban education that exceeds the boundaries of the city center. I believe that the city itself, in combination with its outlying areas, share a symbiotic relationship that often goes unnoticed and untapped. As an increasing number of people flee the city centers into suburbs and neighboring smaller cities, the city center loses not only financial resources, but also human resources that serve to increase the diversity and accompanying strength of the city as a whole. As the city continues to lose members, businesses follow. Soon, schools suffer. As neighborhoods deteriorate and the infrastructure to support a rich urban lifestyle continues to crumble, more people are forced to leave and the desire to move into the city ceases to exist. The situation creates a vicious cycle. It is this cycle that will only be broken with the cooperation of suburbs and cities (Rusk, 2003). Tapping into the resources that each has to offer the other seems to me to be a missing link in the chain of problem-solving strategies that currently exists in the dialogue about our ailing urban schools. It is another goal of mine to strengthen this link.

Finally, we must realize that urban educational leaders are not limited to school administrators. In order for urban organizations to rise to a new level of achievement and success, shared leadership and collegiality (Fullan, 2001) must be the standard. I believe that leaders will naturally rise to the challenge if the environment supports them (Sergiovanni & Starratt, 2002). This means that students, parents, teachers, as well as community and business leaders, etc. will come to the aid of more traditional leaders like administrators if they feel as though they have a voice. As a future administrator, one of my goals will be to remain focused on the importance of giving credit to these voices. Ultimately, I believe that people have the capacity to solve their own problems. As leaders, we must act as facilitators for urban educational change and not experts. Knowing this, we must also expand our definition of education. I characterize education as more than formal knowledge derived from a textbook or linked to a state standard. Rather, I think we should challenge ourselves to view education as a more expansive process of learning how to collaborate with the human and natural systems around us to work toward a greater common good. Sergiovanni & Starratt (2002) call for such a “curriculum of community”, one which “intentionally and explicitly attends to the building up of knowledge, skills, and dispositions which comprise the work of becoming and sustaining a community” (p. 50). It is my goal to create such a community.

Overall, I feel that it is also important to be realistic and not dramatic about the current status of our urban schools. While public perception supports the notion that urban schools are largely unsuccessful and inadequate, a closer look will show that there are many successes worthy of celebrating as well. As urban leaders, we must work to change the public perception by sharing our success stories and by speaking of our challenges as learning opportunities and not the end of the road. I feel that now more than ever an urban renaissance is possible. The desire is there. The next step is to challenge our constituents to work together with us to think about our problems and solutions differently. In doing so, we are likely to find new answers to old problems that will lead us in the right direction, together.

While I did not teach in a completely urban district, I believe that this program is the right one for me as I set out to impact the lives of historically labeled and oppressed students. I was one of them. My hope for this program is that I can learn more about urban educational leadership and about myself on the path to making positive changes in our schools. My first step was to leave my job as a second grade teacher in a suburban school. This year, I have taken new opportunities such as acting as a graduate assistant at the University of Cincinnati and facilitating online courses in the Educational Leadership Distance Learning Program and working with educational policy in my role as an intern with KnowledgeWorks Foundation. While I’m still not sure what career path I will choose upon graduating next year, I am excited by the numerous possibilities open to me thanks to the fact that I have such a wide range of experiences so far in UEL. Overall, I know that I will be happy no matter where I am, as long as I am doing meaningful work in addressing the needs of America’s school children.

My goals and the goals of the Urban Educational Leadership Program are much the same. Together, we will be a force that affects positive change. I strongly feel that I will be able to affect change by sharing my own vision with others as we take steps toward making our schools successful to all students. It is my goal to bring all of my dedication, enthusiasm, past experiences and vision to the Urban Educational Leadership program so that I may learn from the experiences of others as we all work together toward our common goals.