Case Study Narrative
It is the evening of July 23, a Tuesday. Moments ago, the school board for the Middleville City
School District (MCSD) officially approved your selection as the new principal of Sparrow Middle
Sch
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Case Study Narrative
It is the evening of July 23, a Tuesday. Moments ago, the school board for the Middleville City
School District (MCSD) officially approved your selection as the new principal of Sparrow Middle
School. You were endorsed for the position after completing three levels of interviews: an initial
interview with the assistant superintendent in charge of secondary schools, a formal, schoolbased finalist interview with various stakeholders including
teachers, parents, and student representatives, and a final interview with the MCSD
superintendent. MCSD is a mid-sized district that educates 31,269 students in 51 schools. This
is your first principalship after you served two years as an assistant principal in a different
middle school in the district. Teachers report for duty on August 19, and students report for the
first day of school on August 26.
The person who advocated for your hiring and will now serve as your immediate supervisor is
Dr. Lisa Johnson, the MCSD assistant superintendent of secondary schools. She is White and
has 17 years of experience, including as a teacher and principal in the district. She touched
base briefly with you before the Board meeting, and explained that she wants to meet with you
tomorrow morning Wednesday, July 24 at 10:00 a.m. to discuss the following items:
1. What are three main areas of strength and three main issues of concern at Sparrow
Middle School?
2. What are three action steps that you plan to take now through the first day with students
on August 26?
3. What are three goals that you are considering establishing for your first year at the
school?
4. What do you want to know more about? Why? How do you plan to find out that
information?
5. What is one formal, reasonable, and immediate request you would like to make to her?
Dr. Johnson explained that these questions represented discussion starters for her initial
meeting with you as the officially appointed principal of Sparrow. Her questions were intended to
help her understand what you knew thus far about the school and the community, and your
answers would aid her in helping you frame and actualize your goals for the school. As the
Board meeting winds down, you begin to consider responses to each of Dr. Johnson’s
questions. Fortunately, you assembled a rather dense volume of information regarding Sparrow
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