Final Post Reflection

One understands that effective school leadership requires twenty-one responsibilities, but that the mastery of all twenty-one is beyond the capacity of most people (Marzano, Waters, & McNulty, 2005, p. 99). Pitfalls that one would need to be aware of as a first year principal as mentioned by Marzano, Waters, & McNulty (2005) include developing a strong leadership team, selecting the right work, distributing some responsibilities throughout the leadership team, identifying the order of magnitude implied by the selected work, and matching the management style to the order of magnitude change initiative. Many of the strategies and action steps identified in the action plan would help to support these five steps.

Developing a strong leadership team is the only way to address all twenty-one responsibilities. Nurturing a shared vision and belief system among different groups of individuals is paramount to raising student achievement. “Shared vision is essential to a successful change process and an absolute requisite for any learning organization” (DuFour & Eaker, 2008). The leadership team must actively and collaboratively pursue the implementation of the vision on a daily basis. Distribution of responsibilities through the leadership team allows all stakeholders to have a voice in the school improvement process. Additionally, buy-in by the school community is more likely to occur.

The leadership team must also select the right work that has the greatest chance of raising student achievement. Marzano, Walters, & McNulty (2005) identified thirty-nine action steps at both the school level and the teacher level. These action steps are based on a foundation of gathering school data from a variety of sources such as state assessments, quarterly benchmarks, and student work. Additionally, the inclusion of climate survey data is also critical for gathering feedback from students, teachers, and parents. Bernhardt (2000) notes that implementing an effective data analysis process helps to replace hunches and hypothesis with facts; identify root causes of problems not symptoms; assess needs and target resources to address them; set goals and determine whether they are being accomplished; and focus staff development efforts and track their impact (p. 34).

The Organization and Administration course  has helped to heighten my belief in the inclusion of an honest discussion of integrity, fairness, and ethical behavior in one’s practice. Senge (2007) speaks about a movement within learning organizations where individuals seek the intrinsic benefits of their work. He speaks of the importance of personal mastery in one’s job and the need to continually reflect, clarify and deepen one’s personal vision. More importantly, he asks individuals to question their “mental models” and note the effects it has on their teaching practice. This act of continual personal reflection helps to bring to the surface  internal viewpoints and hold them to rigorous scrutiny. In a time where increased an increasingly diverse population of students continually streams into the public school setting, educators must reflect on their practice to ensure that their actions are based on fairness and integrity for all students.