Updated Vita

Mark Brown

2759 Moore Cemetery Rd.  Groveton TX  75845

(W) 936-642-1597; (H) 936-831-3834; mbrown1444@yahoo.com

Education/Certification

Superintendent Certification              Lamar University Beaumont TX, 2014

M. Ed.                                                           Lamar University Beaumont TX, 2009

BA                                                                  Kinesiology/History, Stephen F. Austin, Nacogdoches, TX, 2001

Administrative and Leadership Experience

Superintendent, Centerville ISD

Groveton, TX, 2013-14

Ø  Developed the 2013-14 school district Budget

Ø  Prepared and participated in all school board meetings

Ø  Worked as Transportation Director

Ø  Was actively involved with all federal programs and their implementations

Ø  Completed all state and federal compliance reports

Ø  Assisted the school Principal in all data collections

Ø  Lead a group of stakeholders in development of a Vision/Mission statement

Ø  Worked with stakeholders to adopt a new school curriculum

Ø  Implemented a “Make Reading Important” program for elementary students

Ø  Reviewed and updated all job descriptions within the district

Ø   

Assistant Principal, Groveton JH-HS

Groveton, TX, 2009-2013

Ø  Participated in development and evaluation of educational programs

Ø  Promoted a positive, caring climate for learning

Ø  Communicated effectively with students and staff

Ø  Participated in the development of campus improvement plans with staff, parents, and community members

Ø  Helped principal develop, maintain, and use information systems to maintain and records to track progress on campus performance objectives and academic excellence indicators

Ø  Observed employee performance, recorded observations, and conducted evaluation conferences.  Served as second appraiser for designated teacher appraisal system

Ø  Assisted principal in interviewing, selecting, and orientating new staff

Ø  Supervised operations in principal’s absence

Ø  Helped plan daily school activities by participating in the development of class schedules, teacher assignments, and extracurricular activity schedules

Ø  Supervised reporting and monitoring of student attendance and worked with attendance clerk on follow-up investigations

Ø  In charge of requisitioning supplies, textbooks, and equipment, checked inventory, maintained records, and verified receipts for materials

Ø  Assisted with safety inspections and safety-drill practice activities

Ø  Ensured that students are adequately supervised during non-instructional periods

Ø  Helped to develop a student discipline management system that resulted in positive student behavior

Ø  Ensured that school rules are uniformly observed and that student discipline is appropriate and equitable

Ø  Conducted conferences on student and school issues with parents, students, and teachers

Ø  Participated in professional development to improve skills related to job assignment

Ø  Demonstrated awareness of school-community needs and initiated activities to meet those needs

Teaching Experience

High School Social Studies Teacher

Centerville High School, Groveton, TX,  2002-2006

Ø  Taught World History, U.S. History, Government, and Economics

Ø  Prepared lessons that reflected accommodations for differences in students’ learning styles

Ø  Presented subject matter according to guidelines established by Texas Education Agency, board policies, and administrative regulations

Ø  Planned and used appropriate instructional learning strategies, activities, materials and equipment that reflect understanding of the learning styles and needs of students assigned

Ø  Worked cooperatively with special education teachers to modify curricula as needed for special education students according to guidelines established in Individual Education Plans (IEP)

Ø  Worked with other members of staff to determine instructional goals, objectives, and methods according to district requirements

Ø  Used technology to strengthen the teaching/learning process

Ø  Established and maintained open communications by conducting conferences with parents, students, principals, and teachers

Coaching Experience

Head Basketball Coach/Junior High Football/Track/Cross Country

Corrigan-Camden High School, Corrigan, TX,  2006-2009

Centerville High School, Groveton, TX,  2004-2006

Ø  Varsity football (OLB); Regional Champions 2006, Area Champions 2007

Ø  Varsity Track; Team State Qualifiers 2008, Team State Champions 2009

Ø  Varsity Basketball; Bi-District Qualifier 2004-2005 (Record 16-15), Bi-District Qualifier 2005-2006 (Record 19-9), Bi-District Qualifier, District Coach of the Year 2006-2007 (Record 10-9), Bi-District Qualifier 2007-2008 (Record 15-11), Bi-District Qualifier 2008-2009 (Record 19-11)

Ø  Cross Country; boy and girl State qualifier 2004, girl state qualifier 2005

Ø  Accompanied and supervised student athletes during athletic competitions in assigned sports on out-of-town trips

Ø  Applied and enforced student discipline during athletic contests, practice sessions, and wile on trips off school property in accordance with Student Code of Conduct and student handbook

Ø  Encouraged by example and through instruction, sportsmanlike conduct in all phases of athletic participation

Ø  Ensured student athletes maintained high academic standards

 

Additional Training/Professional Development

PDAS and ILD training, Region VI Service Center, Hunstville, TX, 2009

CPI training, Groveton High School, Groveton, TX, 2009-2013

PEIMS Disciplinary Programs, Region VI Service Center, Hunstville, TX, 2011

PEIMS Attendance Programs, Region VI Service Center, Hunstville, TX, 2012

 

 

References

Joe Driskell, Superintendent

Groveton ISD

207 N. Main, Groveton, TX  75845

(936) 641-1473

 

Sherry Hughes, Superintendent

Corrigan-Camden ISD

504 S. Home, Corrigan, TX  75939

(936) 398-2543

 

Todd Moore, Asst. Superintendent

Groveton ISD

207 N. Main, Groveton, TX  75845

(936) 642-1128

 

 

Professional Development Plan

After completing my three-year professional development many lessons were learned about myself and the needs that I have as an administrator.  I’ve concluded that I need to continue improving mostly in the area of budgeting and finance.  Being able to observe my areas of strengths and my areas of weakness provided me with an insight that really enabled me to plan appropriately.

I think that it is imperative for an administrator to always strive to maintain a strong ethical and moral standard in order to be an effective leader.  This isn’t necessarily an area that I struggle in, but it is an area that I want to ensure that I continue to remain strong.  To me this is the most important aspect of any endeavor in life.  One can be successful in whatever they but over time if they are not moral in their activities then it will ultimately show and the success will begin to falter.

Another area that I wish to improve upon is within communicating to the community and all stakeholders about education as a whole.  I think with time and practice that this area will only get better with time.

The last area that needs to be improved upon is the school finance side of an administrator.  This area too will come with time and application and must be improved upon in order to be an effective Superintendent.

This activity was great in that it allowed me to gauge these weaknesses and make a plan to improve upon them.  I was able to identify the areas by application and seeing what knowledge and experience I have gained within this program.  I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and will only improve upon this as I continue through my journey as a Superintendent.

SISE Reflection!

On Wednesday February 5, 2014 my site supervisor, Joe Driskell, and I met at my office.  During this meeting we discussed many of the challenges of being a Superintendent and I listened to a few stories that he had to tell about his years as a school Superintendent.  We also discussed my internship and discussed the activities that I have participated in.  We also discussed many other activities that I could have put in to the Intern plan.  I was fortunate enough to obtain a Superintendent position during this program and it allowed me to really get a hands-on learning experience.  Mr. Driskell and I discussed the many benefits of actually doing these many activities and the learning enhancement that it had on my Internship and with my actual job.

            The one point that Mr. Driskell continued to harp upon was to always be fair and consistent on decisions and to always have the students’ best interest in mind when making decisions.  He warned me about individuals that will try to coerce me into making decisions that will benefit them and is not what’s in the best interest of the school district.  He has always told me to always be morally strong and ethical when making any decisions and in the long run I will always be better off.

            I have been really lucky to have such a man as my site-supervisor and mentor during this year.  He has really made a great impact on me and my career.  I will continue to lean on him for information, ideas, and suggestions throughout my career as a Superintendent.

Reflections!

Reflection is such an important aspect in that it allows an individual the opportunity to think back and review the lessons learned.  In a leadership position reflecting back on decisions made and lessons learned can be so beneficial in that it allows one to see the things that worked and the things that didn’t work.  It provides such an effective opportunity to learn and benefit from the hands on activities.  Once you reflect back on decisions and learning opportunities, you are better able to see the impact and get a better understanding of the way things worked out.  This allows you to not only make decisions based off of these learning experiences it also gives you an opportunity to compound the learning experience.

     Throughout this entire program we have been given the opportunity to reflect back on every assignment and activity in order to understand the learning or lesson we received.  The first reflection that I remember doing is actually reflecting on building our blog.  This activity was new to me and I had reservations about doing the whole blog thing.  After getting the blog build and navigating it, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined.  Within that reflection I was able to communicate how effective a blog could be for an administrator and see the actual benefit.  The first reflection activity that I will discuss is posting our reflections to our personal blogs.  This activity is extremely beneficial for all students because it not only allows us to reflect back on what we learned, but we are also provided with the opportunity to see what others learned.  I think that this is important in that we may have missed lessons within the activities and by reading other reflections these will be brought to our attention.  When reading other reflections it allows us to understand other lessons that were part of the different assignments that we may have missed.  Not only can we see what others have posted, but we can also discuss these lessons with the other program students and get a better understanding of all aspects of the lesson.  While reading others reflections I was able to gain extra insight and see other perspectives from different individuals in different situations.  These activities were extremely beneficial for me and provided me with some great information.  T

     Reflecting back through all of my intern experiences has been greatly beneficial to me in my journey within the Superintendent program.  The first thing that comes to mind about these activities was being involved in the interview process during the summer months.  While reflecting over the interview process, I was able to learn and see areas that I could improve upon.  The next internship activity that I reflected upon had to do with improving the UIL academic team and encouraging our students to become more involved.  This has been an ongoing activity and a continuous process that our district is still working towards.  Fortunately from using reflections, we have been able to make adjustments to recruiting strategies and have even begun to offer incentives for participation.  This activity will continue to be reflected upon in hopes of continuing the overall effectiveness of the program. 

     Another reflection activity dealt with the collaboration with my site supervisor, when we began the process of developing the 12 month internship plan.  Putting the reflection into my course imbedded log enabled me to think about the suggestions and ideas that Mr. Driskell had made to me during our meetings. I was able to have time to process and work with some of those ideas and then reflect back over them and have a better understanding of what he was suggesting.   The next reflection activity that I found to be beneficial was the final reflection assignment that we had to do in EDLD 5396.  I think this particular reflection was instrumental in that I was able to really learn a lot about myself as a school administrator. It allowed me to review my self-assessments and compare them from beginning to end.  In doing this I was able to see what areas I had weaknesses and in what areas I might possess strengths.  In doing this reflection it enabled me to set my sights on my weaknesses and to also build upon my strengths in order to make my internship a success for myself.

     The next reflective activity that has been beneficial to me is about the school facilities and what all that encounters.  During this I was able to get a better understanding of what all went into the planning and procedures for school facilities.  I was also able to look at our current facilities and see what improvements or updates were needed and possibly find allocations to correct the issues and problems.  Initially I really didn’t understand the significance of school facilities, but by taking that course and then have the opportunity to reflect back on the research and studies that we learned, I was able to get a better understanding of how important the facilities can be in a child’s education.

     The most important reflection to me was during the school finance class.  During this Superintendent program, this course proved to be the most rigorous and challenging course I have had.  I think the complexity of school finance creates a challenge for Superintendents that must be learned in order for a Superintendent to be really successful.  I found this course to really make me read, study, and apply the materials, so I could really grasp all of the particular topics and information needed to be successful.  I feel like this particular reflection that I participated in during this course was most beneficial in it allowed and made me consciously think about all the different topics within school finance.  Not only did I have to think about each topic, but I had to apply them and understand the different aspects in order to utilize the information.  During this reflection I was able to discuss the foundation system of Texas public schools and understand the basis for the funding system we now have.  I was also able to discuss what I had learned about the funding formula and the impact that it has on different school districts.  We looked at the inequality of the systems and I was made to think about ways to make adjustments in order to close that gap.

     Reflections are so important not only in course work, but with life in general.  Reflecting back on the outcomes and looking at alternative actions and how they would have affected those outcomes is so critical in being successful.  I have found that reflecting also gives me the opportunity to gain knowledge on things that I may have missed when the activities first occurred.  Written reflections are great, but I also think that just reflecting back on things in ones mind is just as beneficial.  This allows us to make better informed decisions and also gives us the opportunity to avoid those decisions that didn’t work out and truly be successful in whatever we do.

    

District/Campus Improvement initiative reflection!

The implementation of a baseball/softball program is still in the initial stages, but the feedback so far sounds really promising.  After surveying the students and getting great feedback from them we have begun the planning process and looking at all the implementation strategies to ensure for an effective program.  There seems to be a “buzz” around our community that we are planning on including the activities for our students for the next school year.  Over the past several years many students have moved on to other districts within our area in order to have the opportunity to play softball/baseball.  It seems that they will stay within our district until junior high in hopes of our district implementing the activities, then to only transfer when it doesn’t happen.  The initial cost of these programs will be expensive, but the long term benefits will be well worth it.  Not only will this encourage students to stay at our district, it will also give our students an opportunity to improve themselves by giving them another avenue of responsibility and character building.

 

The effectiveness of the parental and community involvement within our district has been a major concern.  This is a difficult area, because it takes extra effort on the administration, staff, parents and community.  Time is the number one issue, but with the proper planning process, it can be implemented effectively.  This year, as part of my internship, we were able to implement a “Make Reading Important” program that has really taken off.  Once or twice a month we have an individual, either a business leader, community leader, parent volunteers, or local celebrity, come to our district and lead a reading session with our elementary students.  We also involve our local media to not only promote this program, but to also give it a sense of importance to our students. So far this year we have had such people as our Sheriff, state representative, our District Attorney, a professional baseball player, a NFL player and our local television newscaster.  This program has been such a positive for our students and our district as a whole.  It has, our course, increased the importance of reading to our students, and it’s had many more positives. For one, the program has brought some positive attention to our district from within our community. The program also gives the participants an opportunity to give back to their community and when this happens everyone seems to win. I am proud to say that this is one imitative that I take pride in and can’t believe how it has taken off.  I was able to get this idea started, but the teachers and staff and really taken the lead and are already planning to keep it going for the upcoming school year.

The next area concern that needed some improvement and attention was our attendance rate.  Working with our local constable we have been able to start a program where he actually gets involved with the students that are having attendance issues.  He is trying to use preventive strategy instead of automatically issue a citation.  When our attendance clerk contacts him about truancy he actually goes to the house of the child and visits with them as a family.  He will go over the ramifications of truancy and try to be proactive about the situation.  If this process doesn’t work, he then resorts to filing on the students and parents.  He likes to have this meeting so that the parents have a chance to help with the issue and he can also hold them accountable at that point.  The next area of concern is that of tardiness.  Our district didn’t have a tardy policy in place, so this year we implemented an after school detention for excessive tardiness.  This has cut our tardiness in half when compared to last year.

In reflecting back over these activities they have been extremely beneficial to me as an aspiring Superintendent.  It has been an added bonus that our district and students have also benefited from them as well.  I am very proud to have been involved with these activities that have ultimately helped me in my career, but more so that it has improved the overall effectiveness of our district.