Paper #1:
“What does an administrator of pupil services mean to
me?”
Written by
Glen E. Dawursk, Jr.
for
EDAD 731
Dr. Deirdre Wells
It
was around 1886 when a twenty-year old visually impaired teacher was hired by
an
In this report, I will describe the function and
purpose of the person given the responsibility to oversee the “Anne Sulivans”
of a school district; the person accountable to working against any roadblock
which might hinder a child from learning; the person who’s job it is to
equalize the learning platform for all students; the person most often called
the Administrator of Pupil Services.
In 1965, congress authorized the Elementary and
Secondary Act (ESEA) which opened the door for drastic changes in education
including the creation or expansion of federal programs for special education,
“The
(
Coordination includes knowing which laws apply to which pupil service
within the district. This is done
through research of trends in and outside of the classroom and a continuous monitoring
of federal, state and local legislation.
Unfortunately, the responsibilites of Pupil
Services departments are often not consistent from district to district,
thereby also changing the coordination and management of the administrator in
charge. The Milwaukee Public Schools (
A Comparison of Pupil Services
|
Milwaukee
Public |
Yorktown
Central School District |
Olentangy
Local |
|
Milwaukee, WI |
|
Lewkis
Center, Ohio |
|
Adminstrator
of the Office of Pupil Services |
Assistant
Superintendent for Pupil Services |
Pupil Services
Supervisor |
|
Parent Information Center |
1.
Special
education and Section 504 / Americans with Disabilities Act 2.
School
Psychology 3.
Social
Work 4.
Nursing
Services 5.
Speech
Language 6.
Physical/Occupational
Therapy 7.
Guidance
Departments 8.
Instructional
Support Team |
1.
Special Education Programs 2.
Preschool Placement for Children with
Special Needs 3.
Prevention 4.
Related/Supplemental Services 5.
English as a Second Language ( 6.
School-Community Liaison 9.
Nursing/Health Services |
|
(Division, |
( |
(Olentangy, |
The Public Services Administrator must also set the
department’s vision and goals, help design the strategic plan for the district,
implement steps toward achieving district and department goals and develop a
system for objective evaluation of the desired outcomes. The school district of
Yorktown Heights, NY states that the Assistant Superintendant of Pupil Services
“provides overall administrative direction and supervision of special
education, and of the other support services provided to students.” (Yorktown,
Being a community and schools support / laison is
also an essential aspect of being a Pupil Services Administrator. The individual needs to work well with others
on staff and in the community. According
to the Milwaukee Public Schools, the responsibilities of the Administrator of
the Office of Pupil Services include “the planning, coordination,
administration and delivery of special education services and parental
involvement activities” and for “providing esssential services requested by
parents, students, schools, communities, and offices related to school
selection, student registration/records, student expulsion, student discipline,
Chapter 220 and Open Enrollment.” (Division,
Most importantly, the Pupil Services Adminsitrator
must understand the issues which affect learning. The Department of Instruction for the state
of Wisconsin outlines that for licensure as a Pupil Servcies Administrator, the
individual must understand the “complexities of learning, and strategies that
support pupil learning” including their health, saftey and development and “be
able to address the…wide range of social, emotional, behavioral and physical
issues and circumstances which may limit a pupil’s abilities to achieve
positive learning outcomes.” (DPI, Pupil Services,
Finally, the school district of South Milwaukee’s
listing of the elements of their Pupil Services program can also serve as
guidelines for the responsibilites of a Pupil Services Administrator:
·
Improve the school environment to support the maximum development
of each student by advocating practices that promote the attainment of District
mission and goals, and that reduce practices or programs that inhibit or limit
success for all students.
·
Collaborate with other members of the professional community to
achieve program goals.
·
Promote the development of healthy behaviors that include
students’ physical, emotional, social and mental health.
·
Promote student development of positive self-concept and
cooperative relationships.
·
Use the tools of action research and comprehensive program
evaluation to provide direction for continuous program improvement.
·
Use a variety of strategies to accomplish program goals in
accordance with the preparation and certification areas within each discipline,
including individual and group consultation/counseling, assessment, referral,
placement, classroom activities and parent education programs.
·
Provide services that are federally mandated for students with
Exceptional Education Needs (EEN). (
In summary, because pupil services is such a broad
platform for government needs-based programs, assessments and regulation
fulfillments, the Administrator of Pupil Services can be a misunderstood and
inconsistent position. The administator of pupil services in some districts is
more the “coordinator” of specialized services and less of a manager. In others, the responsibilites are much more
significant. Across districts
nationally, the Administrator of Pupil Services’ responsibilities are simply
inconsistent. This may be due in part to differing regional needs assessments,
but more likely, it is due to finances. While the title “Pupil Services
Administrator” may seem somewhat inoculous, district budget cuts often combine
pupil services with other unrelated responsibilities or simply put it under the
auspices of another administator’s job description. None-the-less, the Administrator
of Pupil Services is a critical role and one which our schools need.
Alexander Grahm Bell once said about Helen Keller,
“In this child I have seen more of the Divine than has been manifest in anyone
I met before.” (Wikimedia, Quotes,
Bibliography
Department of Public Instruction
(DPI), State of
Department of Public Instruction
(DPI), State of
Division of Finance, Milwaukee
Public Schools (
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Biography: Helen Keller.
Wikipedia. Retrieved on
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Helen
Keller Quotes. Wikiquote. Retrieved on
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. No Child Left Behind Act.
Wikipedia. Retrieved on