Reflections on the 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader

This self-assessment exercise was an eye opening experience.  As I was reading the assigned chapter, 21 Responsibilities of the School Leader (Marzano, Waters & McNulty, 2005), I was struck by the thought that every single one of those responsibilities seems equally important in developing an effective school leader.  I was also moved by the statistically significant correlation between many of these responsibilities and student academic achievement.  Finally, a research-based argument in favor of these responsibilities, that, without careful attention to them, student academic achievement would suffer.

In scoring the self-assessment, it was difficult to accurately determine strengths and weaknesses, as I have no real experience being a school principal.  To make this more relevant to my situation, I chose to rank what I would be most skilled in at the start, considering my interests, beliefs, and values about school leadership. I discovered that several of my strengths and interests ranked on the lower end of the scale of correlation with achievement, and vice versa: Several of my self-assessed weaknesses were closer to the top of the scale.  This was interesting, indeed.

Of the 21 responsibilities I ranked myself highest, the top seven included:  Change Agent, Ideals & Beliefs, Intellectual Stimulation, Optimizer, Resources, Input, and Involvement with Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment.  Of these, Change Agent, Resources, and Input rank almost exactly in the middle of the scale of correlation to student achievement.

At the bottom of the list, containing seven of my weakest attributes, included:  Discipline, Focus, Outreach, Relationships, Monitor/Evaluate, Order, and Affirmation.  Of these, Discipline, Outreach, and Monitor/Evaluate were those responsibilities showing the strongest correlation with student achievement, behind Situational Awareness and Flexibility!

What does this mean to me?  I conclude that all 21 of these responsibilities are very influential in achieving the goal of improved student learning and achievement.  That is why the job of a principal is such a tough one!  Looking at the correlation statistics, when weighed against my self-assessed rankings, I see that I need to further develop skills in Discipline, Outreach, and Monitor/Evaluate in order to more effectively impact student achievement. 

Reference

Marzano, R., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. (pp. 41-64). Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. DOI: www.mcrel.org

Reflections on Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership theory has influenced many administrators at the school level, and that is a good thing.  Transformational Leadership is focused on change, yet there are some broad and overarching characteristics that enable change to occur beyond expectations, often “changing followers into leaders and leaders into moral agents” (Burns 1978).  This kind of leader inspires and motivates others to work towards achieving the goals of the organization. They encourage creative freedom, provide genuine attention to the individual, and give support and encouragement to develop them further.  Above all, the transformational leader is a charismatic leader, one who evokes a strong sense of mission among all in the organization.   

This transformational leadership model can flourish in a learning environment.  The main goal of schools today is to ensure that all students graduate college and career ready.  With this goal, the learning environment must gear itself toward the challenges of the 21^st century.  School staff members need to think of old problems in new ways, creating solutions, or the process toward solutions, that adapts to the new demands.  As the qualities of a transformational leader are evident, staff members are inspired to participate in this transformational change.  This has a positive effect on the learning environment, because the common goals, ideals, and vision of the learning environment as a community are reflected in all actions, and certainly contribute to a positive learning community for students and staff alike.

When a truly transformational leader is leading a school, and is successful, the whole community is transformed into something bigger and better than first imagined.  As stated in The Transformational Leadership Report (2007), transformational leaders are connected to themselves, grounded in reality, inspired in heart and mind and have the charisma to “wear” these features at all times.  They are passionate about their vision, and live and act according to that vision.  A transformational leader generates trust and commitment because they genuinely care about the community and wants to help each individual reach their full personal potential.  Lastly, a transformational leader is a life-long learner, curious and open to new ideas.

An organization cannot change, evolve, or grow unless the leader cultivates this atmosphere.  A transformational leader gives everyone the opportunity to develop his or her own leadership capacity. When teachers and staff have a chance to explore new capacities, they become empowered, resulting in motivation to generate change and improvement within their settings. This progressive and constructive school climate is beneficial to all, and this includes the students.

Today’s school administrator must lead the teachers and staff in integrating technology with instruction.  A transformational leader sees this as an opportunity to learn and grow, to use technology to do things that would have been impossible to do without it.  Among early-adopters, technology is used to complete administrative tasks traditionally done with a pen or pencil, with a computer. Word processing is one example of this.  This use is good and important, but to promote and develop higher order thinking skills, technology integration can be the conduit to deeper understanding of complex ideas and learning.  Many teachers begin at the “word processing” level of technology integration.  However, they need to be inspired and motivated to move beyond mere word processing.  A transformational leader can inspire and motivate the teachers to expand their understanding and take personal risks to achieve something they thought was not possible.  If the school climate is truly transformational, this happens naturally.

References

Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row

Leithwood, K.A. (2007). Transformation school leadership in a transactional policy world. In John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Ed.), The Jossey Bass Reader on: Educational Leadership (pp. 183-196). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

The Transformational Leadership Report. (2007). Retrieved from: http://olms.cte.jhu.edu/olms2/data/ck/file/TransformationalLeadershipReport.pdf