Initially I was having a hard time separating out my current school situation, the poor leadership we have been under for the past two years, my hopes for the new administrator and how I feel I would be as an administrator. It was really hard for me to choose my answers at first and I think I finally got the groove so I am not sure my results are entirely accurate. I also find it hard to think of myself as a principal as that is not in my immediate plans, but either way as a school leader, whether in my current position or in a central office position I will still need to possess these qualities, so putting myself in that frame of mind helped me complete the survey. The results themselves really do match up, a couple even matched up perfectly. A few areas like discipline, order and outreach were much higher from the online survey than I gave myself credit for. On the other hand affirmation, contingent reward, and input were just the opposite, I gave myself more credit. Again I think some of this has to do with my struggle in the beginning to move past my current situation.
Consider your top seven strengths and top seven areas of improvement from your self-assessment. How do they correlate with student achievement (Fig 4.2, p. 63 of Marzano text)?
My strengths would be communication, focus, ideals and beliefs, involvement with CIA, knowledge of CIA, resources and relationships
My weakness would be affirmation, discipline, input, order, outreach, intellectual stimulation, and monitor and evaluate.
From Marzano’s chart, I think I am somewhere in the middle, in the 3rd, 4th and 5th highest ranked correlations, I believe those are my weaker areas, I really believe those are my weaker areas because I don’t believe in myself when it comes to those areas. I personally struggle with parent communication and community concerns, I have never been a disciplinarian and have also never been a test giver so those are areas where my confidence would be low which makes them my weakness, I know I could handle them as a leader but it would be areas I would like to focus on for my own personal improvement.
On the other side of that coin, my areas of strength that rank high on Marzano’s correlation chart would be order (#7), resources (#8) and knowledge of CIA (#9). In my current position all of those things are very important and something that I focus on daily so perhaps that was why I felt they were strengths, they are areas I feel comfortable and knowledgeable with them. If I were to have an administrative role (in or out of a school) I would let my strength in these areas help me to overcome my weakness in the other areas, I would use my knowledge of CIA to improve my monitoring and evaluating skills, my need for order to improve my discipline skills and my knowledge of resources to reach out to the community and create positive interactions with parents.
Christine, as I reviewed your blog it seems so clear that those weaker areas are those in which you have not had a great deal of experience. These should be the target areas for your internship experience. Make sure not to confuse a lack of experience with a lack of belief in yourself. You have already demonstrated so many strengths within the parameters of the course, and you have expressed such clear ideas for improving Alexandria City Public Schools. Put simply, continue believing in yourself and go after getting those experiences that will close your experience gap.
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