The Role of Central Office Supervisor

 After doing research into the role of Central Office Supervisors, there seems to still be a question of what their positions is and how and who does it effect students and local school staff. When trying to answer this question, I relied on a 2003 article by Martha Ovando titled “After doing research into the role of Central Office Supervisors, there seems to still be a question on what is their positions and how is it”.

 

This article took two approaches when trying to answer this question. The fist approach was by supervisory practices and secondly, through supervisory roles and contributions. These two approaches were then looked at through the 12 dimensions of supervisory practices. Again, when it came to the breakdown of how this work was being accomplished, Central Office Supervisor’s believed that the practices were being equally distributed across supervisors and the Campus Leaders. When evaluating the distribution from the school level perspective, they believe that they took on most of the responsibilities outline in the 12 dimensions. 

The Campus Leader is the principal of the school system which is directly supervised by the Central Office Supervisor. The campus leader position is to ensure that the central office supervisors are aware of the situations in the school and providing information that might help the central office provide support and trainings for local teachers. Additionally, it is their responsibility to help implement and support new policy’s that are being implemented by Central Office Supervisors. 

 

Outside of the 12 dimensions, the role of the Central Office Supervisor is to address and work with the school board to help address concerns they might have and, implement suggestions they propose when it comes to providing education to the district’s students. Additionally, their role consists of providing support and development of staff at their local schools. By supporting and developing staff, it allows the local school staff to be more effective when working through the 12 dimensions as outlined in the article.

 

Additionally, by providing staff development, it allows the central supervisor the ability to understand and work through current needs of local schools and staff. This can range from supporting and implementation of curriculum changes to help achieve hire test scores and provide budget increases to help stay relevant with technology developments. 

 

Throughout this article, the main take away was that the role of the Central Office Supervisor is to support and guide the local school staff. Additionally, it is their position to listen and give a voice to the school boards in-which elected them to office. Through this supportive role, the Central Office Supervisor is able to guild student success through curriculum changes and support, provide staff development, and implementing new technologies. 

 

Reference: 

Ovando, M. N., & Huckestein , L. S. (2003). Perceptions of the Role of the Central Office Supervisor in Exemplary Texas School Districts, 1–31.