Dr.

Michael Rogers, Head Principal, East Middle School

A. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Describe principals role in the construction of the schedule and supervision of instruction.
Dr. Rogers is in charge of creating the master schedule for the building. He does this with
help of his two assistant principals as well as the school registrar. Dr. Rogers stated that his
#1 priority and goal is teacher evaluation.
2. Describe how the principal keeps staff and students up-to-date regarding new legal
requirements mandated by local, state, and federal agencies?
All major announcements of this sort trickle down from the office of the superintendent in the
Sioux City School system. The board policies drives this entire process. When the time is
appropriate; Dr. Rogers informs his staff through staff meetings.
3. Respond to each of the following questions:
a. How are students scheduled into classes?
The students are entered into the classes of their choosing through the grade level
counselors. Counselors use Infinite Campus to facilitate this process.
b. How are attendance, academic, and other personnel records kept?
East Middle School has an attendance secretary who is in charge of these records.
She does this through Infinite Campus software. Personnel records are kept as hard
copies in the head principals office as well as the central district office.
c. How are programs for talented and special-needs children managed?
These programs are managed by the teachers in those areas with the cooperation of
the respective coordinators are each school building in the district.
d. How is the student government organized and sponsored?
The student government at EMS is led by 2 staff advisors. The students vote for the
classroom representatives. The student government meets regularly throughout the
school year and does a variety of service projects such as street clean ups. The
student government at EMS is organized to give students a voice in the school.
e. What non-certified staff is under the principals jurisdiction?
The custodians, instructional assistants, and para-educators are all under the
jurisdiction of the head principal at EMS. These positions are all evaluated yearly.
The lunch room staff members are another non-certified staff at EMS, but these staff
members are not directly evaluated by the principals at EMS. However, the
administration does have input into these evaluations.

f. Examine and describe the written job description for the principals position.
A principal in the Sioux City School district must analyze data and lead the school
improvement process. This includes the identification and implementation of
research-based instructional practices through professional development. The
principal must act as a liaison between the school and the community. The principal
must implement and ensure observance of all board policies by the staff and students.
The principal must manage the needs of the school with respect to personnel,
curriculum, budgeting, and the physical plant.
g. How, when, and by whom is the principal evaluated?
The head principal is evaluated by the district Secondary Director. It is the
responsibility of the head principal to evaluate the assistant principals. All
administration is evaluated yearly according to the Iowa Standards for School
Leaders.
B. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
1. The student will examine the school and/or district SIP. What are its salient features?
The SIP for Okoboji Community Schools is broken into seven parts: 1) Vision, Mission and
Goals; 2) Collaborative Relationships; 3) Learning Environment; 4) Curriculum and
Instruction; 5) Professional Development; 6) Monitoring and Accountability; 7)
Assurances.
The Vision, Mission and Goals portion of the SIP contains goals for reading, mathematics,
science. These include both immediate and long-range goals for the district. Included in
these goals are the assessments that the district will use to determine if the stated goals are
met. The Vision, Mission and Goals section also specifically state methods the district has
in place to meet the goals stated in the plan for reading, math and science.
The Collaborative Relationships portion of the SIP presents the ways the district intends to
include input from the local community of the district in the decision making process. Sioux
City Community Schools plans to do this through parent surveys as well as District Advisory
Committees.
The Learning Environment portion of the SIP incorporates the schools multicultural and
gender fair policy into the curriculum and educational programs. The other part to this
section is online courses that are offered by the district. Sioux City Community Schools are
not currently offering any sort of online classes.
The Curriculum and Instruction portion of the SIP discusses the implementation of the Iowa

Core Curriculum by Sioux City Community Schools. This includes all processes for
reading, mathematics, science, social studies and 21st century skills as guided by the Iowa
Core Curriculum.
The Professional Development section of the SIP details all processes of professional
development in Sioux City Community Schools. It also ties these activities into the longrange goals of the district. The SIP also outlines the researched based practices that the
staff development processes are based on including the qualities of effective
instruction. This portion of the plan specifically addresses instruction and curriculum. The
SIP also ties the professional development model in the district to the Iowa Teaching
Standards and uses data to analyze goals and supports the implementation of the Iowa Core
Curriculum. Sioux City Community Schools are using the instructional strategies identified
by the leadership team that are research based.
The Monitoring and Accountability portion of the SIP describes how the district will
monitor goals achievement for Individualized Educational Programs in the district. It also
includes evidence-based activities the district uses to improve student performance resulting
from special education. The evaluation of the at-risk program is outlined in this portion of
the SIP, along with dropout prevention and Talented and Gifted programs. The district is
also required to include a current ELL plan in this portion of the SIP. Another piece of
information in this portion of the plan includes needs analysis assessments for all state
indicators. Also included in the Monitoring and Accountability portion of the SIP is
descriptions of the district's evaluation of beginning teacher induction and mentoring
programs, evaluation of the effectiveness of instructional strategies implemented through
professional development, evaluation of the effectiveness of career development plans by
analyzing student data and the school's management of Perkins funds.
The Assurances portion of the SIP checks to be sure the the district is meeting the necessary
requirements outlined through Iowa Public Law. This is simply a true or false section
making note of which specific laws the district does/does not meet.
2. Describe how the SIP is developed, revised, and implemented.
The SIP is developed and revised yearly by the Building Leadership Team during the
summer leadership training time. This is done through the collection of data collected from
surverys, walk-throughs, and students.
3. To what extent are professional learning communities (PLC) for teachers utilized?
EMS utilizes PLCs very extensively. They are currently meeting in their PLC groups at
least twice a week. The PLCs at EMS are focused on having conversations about the data
that they collect as well as building and analyzing formative and summative assessment with
in the PLC group.

4. What is the principals opinion regarding the effectiveness of the schools SIP?
Dr. Rogers feels that the schools SIP plays an important role in driving the school to
become better. The SIP is the driving for behind the PLC process and that as a result of this
process, the students are making positive achievement gains.
C. CURRICULUM
1. How is the curriculum designed, evaluated, and revised? Describe any contemporary
curriculum models that are in use.
The Sioux City Community School district employs curriculum directors that handle all of
the curriculum work for the district. The district also employs consulting teachers as a
result of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation grant through the State of Iowa.
2. Explain the extent to which instructional improvement, curriculum revision, assessment,
acquisition of texts and instructional materials, and staff development are linked and articulated
with the school improvement plan.
The biggest connection here is that the SIP ties in the curriculum with student achievement.
The SIP also maintains the districts focus on research based strategies and best teaching
practices.
3. Describe the procedures and practices for follow-up studies of students after their completion
of the various educational levels and the extent to which those results are used to improve
curricular offerings.
At EMS, Dr. Rogers noted that there is not a lot of student input over the classes they can
take. However, the staff does have informal discussions with students about the things they
can improving so as to maximize the curriculum for the students.
4. Describe the curricular activities of the school outside the regular classroom (e.g., band,
chorus, athletics, clubs, and gifted/talented programs). Who is in charge of supervising this
program and what are his or her major responsibilities?
EMS offers a variety of extra-curricular programs including athletics, chess club, fine arts,
STEM club, Math Bee and a variety of other offerings. EMS has a part-time activities
director who oversees these programs.
D. TECHNOLOGY
1. Describe the type and location of electronic technology available to students.
Students at EMS have access to computer labs, mobile labs, the media center as well as a
variety of interactive technology within the classroom such as responders or applications
for tablets.
2. Describe the type and location of electronic technology available to teachers and staff.
Each staff member has a permanent smart board in the classroom. They also have a laptop
technology package which includes interactive devices to collect student data. Each teacher

also has access to a technology coach to assist in the integration of technology into their
lessons.
3. What types of electronic technology are utilized by the building and district administrators?
Each administrator is issued a laptop, cellphone and Ipad by the district. They also have a
desktop computer in their personal office.
E. ASSESSMENT
1. Describe the elementary schools overall method of assessing student achievement.
EMS uses the Iowa Assessments as well as common assessments developed by the district
over the curriculum for assessing student achievement.
2. How does the principal determine that students are meeting minimum standards for
academic performance?
EMS uses a standards based grading system that is based on the Iowa Core Curriculum.
They also use summative assessments at the end of classes to determine if the students have
sufficiently met the standards in that class.
3. How is the standardized testing program handled and by whom?
Each school in the district has a guidance counselor who is responsible for the coordination
of the standardized testing program.
4. Describe the principals role in preparing information for the school districts Report Card
in accord with state department of education requirements?
EMS uses the template from the State of Iowa to satisfy the Department of Ed. requirements.
The Principal must compile and enter the information into the States template.