EDLD 5342 Final Reflection

Final Reflection – Week 5 – Part 3

Overall, I have learned a wealth of information in this class. I actually came to this course with a mindset that it was going to be difficult and that I may not do well. I was correct in believing it was going to be hard. I spent many hours researching, asking questions and interviewing my business manager and superintendent. I was wrong though, in projecting that I would not do well. I measure my success by the increased confidence I have in my understanding and ability to take on the role of a financial officer. I know I have much to learn. There have been many that have affirmed that most of the learning of school finance comes from actually doing the job. I also measure success in the knowledge of knowing where to turn for help. This course has taught me that I have many resources in which to access for help and explanation.
One of my favorite parts of this course was being able to converse and collaborate with my peers, both in small groups and large. We all helped one another on the wiki and blog discussion boards and then we worked as teams to come to conclusions on some very intricate assignments. I enjoy networking and know that it is important in the education business.
My vocabulary also increased during this course. I learned many new acronyms (teach speak) and concepts that are specific to finance and budgeting. The ability to converse with other administrators intelligently will be of great benefit as I continue through this program and later seek and attain a job as superintendent. Though some of the formulas are still a little fuzzy and I see my need for better understanding, I have found it refreshing to learn these things along with my cohort.
Discovering the way in which stakeholders play a part in the budgeting process was also very beneficial to me. I saw minimal input from stakeholders in my district, partly because it is quite small. Upon further examination, I found there is input of which I was simply unaware. When I reviewed the input from the lectures, readings, and writings of my peers, I not only realized from where input may come, but the importance of that input when it comes to planning a budget that aligns with community and school goals.
The assignments that required us to compare data from different districts were most informative. Analyzing data takes practice and I now feel confident in studying District snapshots and being able to draw some conclusions from the data. As students, we were also able to compare and contrast differences in small and large districts as they related to “economy of scale.” I was enlightened as I learned about this concept.
Finally, I believe tying all the financial information together with the ethical aspect of finance made a lot of sense. As stated by someone on the message board, it seems ethics and fairness should be “no-brainers” when it comes to school finance. Unfortunately greed may cause common sense not to be used and unethical behavior does occur. One only needs to read a daily paper on turn on the news to see examples. Studying the Texas Administrative Code of Ethics was a very valuable portion of this course.