SWOT Analysis Report

SWOT Analysis Report Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) is an agency that implements policy and standards relating to education programs from the time children are in pre-kindergarten until they complete high school. The report will conduct a SWOT analysis of MSDE to determine its strengths, weaknesses, growth opportunities and threats to the viability of the agency’s operations. Thereafter, relevant organizational theories will be applied to the agency’s SWOT analysis. As such, the SWOT analysis will help to establish a proposal for a new project or initiative that can be implemented in the agency and the relevant stakeholders required for the approval of such an initiative identified. Analysis of the agency’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for future growth, and threats to its viability (SWOT) The strength of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) lies in the fact that it is keen on ensuring that all the children obtain quality education. As such, the agency provides strategic resources, policy guidance as well as strong leadership to schools within the state so they can prepare students to become successful beyond their graduation. MSDE enjoys a strong leadership given that it has built and recruited a strong team that has a broad experience in instructional improvement and various areas within schools (MSDE, 2017, p. 3). Strong leadership is one of the agency’s core strengths because it is able to assist struggling schools and make those that are strong even better. Another strength lies in the agency’s ability to prepare for its student’s future success. The Division of Career and College Readiness within the agency focuses on promoting quality career as well as preparing Marylanders for postsecondary education. The division offers technical assistance and oversight to community colleges and local schools by implementing programs related to financial literacy, technology education and career programs in public schools in Maryland (MSDE, 2017, p. 5). In addition, the agency has the capacity to transform policies into action. The division in charge of innovation and academic policy ensures that policies related to academics are in tandem with the changing and growing needs of the school districts and the students. MSDE provided its personnel with benefits and this is a strong point as it motivates them to carry out their work effectively. Specifically, employees get 457, 403B and 401K compensation plans that are deferred as well as opportunities for advancing their careers (MSDE, n.d). In addition, personnel are given sick, personal and paid annual leave, a pension plan and healthcare insurance. Additionally, the agency has a Division in charge of early childhood development and is responsible for establishing a strong foundation for children. The Division is involved in making improvements in early childhood education and early care throughout Maryland (MSDE, 2017). In essence, the Division is keen on ensuring that the child care programs are healthy and safe to improve young children’s experiences in early education in order to increase their likelihood of success when get into elementary school. The weakness of the agency is that it has not been able to deal with the disparities among the demographic groups in Maryland. Statistics obtained in 2017 showed that there was a gap between the SAT scores of students of color and that of White students in Maryland. For instance, educators in Woodlawn and Lansdowne high schools situated in the southwest of Baltimore County reported a gap in the SAT achievement of their students compared to those of other high schools within the county. More than 50% of the students from the two schools are people of color with most of them getting reduced and free lunch (College of Education, 2017). The agency experiences such weaknesses because the schools do not have better access to teachers and do not get teachers with a lot of experience as well as those who are able to stay longer. Furthermore, the Baltimore County school board members have admitted that racial inequality continues to persist in schools and efforts were being made to promote diversity. In 2014, Maryland was ranked as the third-most-segregated state in as far as Black students were concerned (Pacella & Prudente, 2017). Therefore, MSDE needs to deal with issues relating to education gaps, inequities, race and segregation that are ailing the education sector in the state. There is also a weakness in the system that the agency uses towards the education of juvenile offenders. Unfortunately, MSDE has not been able to meet the standards it has indicated for the twenty four public school districts in the state. Specifically, there is a serious teacher shortage and students who are juvenile offenders are deprived the services indicated in their instruction plans. The agency is solely responsible for ensuring that students in treatment centers as well as those in juvenile facilities due to their delinquency get an education (Dresser & Greene, 2015). However, this has become difficult because the teachers who work for longer hours than those in public schools are underpaid thus resulting in juvenile offenders not get quality education. Improvement opportunities that exist include increased engagement in cross departmental activities as a way to share costs and integrate funding. Additionally, governance can be strengthened by communicating across divisions and sharing staff through overlapping divisions to enable them work on initiatives or projects that are similar (http://mdideareport.org). Furthermore, the agency has the opportunity to provide local school systems (LSS) with onsite technical assistance or professional learning. School administrators, specialized educators and LSS leaders should also be provided with resources to enable them carry out their work effectively. The agency’s support of LSS helps to improve the performance of schools in Maryland. The agency will establish a partnership model for parents and teachers to create courses for graduates and undergraduates in order to change the attitudes of teachers concerning family engagement. Bullying is a threat to the agency’s goal of promoting quality education and preparing students for a bright future. MSDE has a model policy that was established in 2008 to prohibit intimidation, harassment and bullying in schools. Unfortunately, the agency may not always be able to handle all cases of bullying and this poses a threat to the viability of MSDE’s initiatives. Bullying can take various forms such as cyber bullying, physical or verbal bullying. Apparently, children with disabilities are more likely to be bullied. Therefore, bullying is a threat to the agency because it causes anxiety and depression, poor academic performance, behavioral and health problems which adversely affect the agency’s efforts to improve the quality of education and performance of students. Application of appropriate organizational theories into the SWOT analysis of the agency The agency used the neoclassical theory with regards to its employees. The neoclassical organization places emphasis on the needs of personnel as human beings in order to ensure that they experience job satisfaction. This approach encourages increased productivity, motivation, creativity and growth among personnel (Pham, 2018). MSDE gave its staff benefits such as a pension plan, career development opportunities, and compensation plans (MSDE, n.d). This showed that the agency was seeking to realize positive outcomes by ensuring that employees are happy. The agency also incorporated the classical theory of organizations into its structure. Specifically, MSDE was involved in the division of labor and specialization given that the agency has structured its functions by dividing them in various divisions. For instance, there is a division that deals with career and college readiness and another responsible for academic policy and innovation. The agency has been able to realize certain accomplishments such as preparing children for their future because dividing tasks enables personnel to specialize in handling the narrowest functions thereby improving the agency’s efficiency (Sindhuja, n.d). In essence, the classical theory is keen on specializing performance and coordinating its various functions which enables it to operate in an efficient and effective way. The learning organization refers to an institution that is keen on increasing its ability to take action. In this regard, MSDE is a learning organization as it has been keen on ensuring that policies are turned into action. Furthermore, learning organizations tend to increase their ability to create (Walonick, 1993). The agency is a learning institution as evidenced by the opportunities it wishes to exploit. For instance, the agency is focused on creating undergraduate and graduate courses by coming up with a partnership model for both teachers and parents. Evidently, the fact that the agency wants to create courses that will improve the quality of learning is an indicator that it is a learning organization. The agency’s SWOT analysis further shows that the organization is involved in management by objectives (MBO). This means that the agency conducts its management actions in line with its objectives. As such, the agency has been able to achieve its goal of making public schools in Maryland better by choosing a strong team of leaders who assist administrative staff and educators (MSDE, 2017). Furthermore, the agency ensures that it realizes its goal of taking action on its policies by aligning academic policies with the needs of students. As such, management in the agency is goal centered and is not guided by bureaucratic principles. Fayol’s management principles otherwise known as the administrative theory has been widely used in the agency. Fayol’s principles include specialization, discipline, remunerating employees, management’s functions, subduing individual interests, unity of direction, responsibility and authority (http://www.fao.org). To begin with, employees are fairly remunerated given that they also get benefits such as medical insurance and a pension plan. Work has been divided in the agency across various divisions such as the audit office division relating college and career readiness, division responsible for early childhood development as well as division in charge of educator effectiveness (MSDE, 2017). All these divisions promote specialization and enable personnel to effectively complete their tasks. There is a sense of responsibility and authority on leaders who have been chosen to work together with superintendents as well as other administrators in Maryland to improve performance in schools. In addition, there is unity in the direction the agency is taking. MSDE strives to provide policy guidance; strategic resources and strong leadership all with the aim of assisting students in Maryland realize their full potential. Proposal for a new initiative along with 1–3 recommendations toward its implementation A new initiative that can be proposed relates to making the preparation and certification programs for educators more rigorous. This initiative will enable Maryland educators become more effective and even enable them to deal with issues such as bullying and education disparity in Maryland in a much better way. An amendment of the certification regulatory requirements currently in use is necessary for the implementation of the proposed initiative. For instance, if the minimum number of certifications required for educators and teachers are increased then the adjustments made should incorporate the new certifications needed. For instance, teachers may require to obtain a certificate in child psychology so that they can better understand the student’s mindset which will help them use effective teaching methods and even get to know how to discourage bullying in schools. Another recommendation is for the test requirements in Maryland to be more rigorous so that they can be more comprehensive and cater for the new requirements imposed on educators and teachers. For instance, the test can seek to find out whether the teachers will be willing to partner with parents to in coming up with courses that will enable them appreciate family engagement. This move is important because it will seek to find out whether teachers are able to explore opportunities to increase their effectiveness in handling students. In addition, the new standards for educator preparation programs have to be devised and aligned with the proposed initiative. This is because the same standards cannot be used while seeking to make educator programs and teacher certification more rigorous. Identification of stakeholders and 1–3 strategies to use to advocate the approval of the new initiative To begin with, Maryland’s State Board of Education (SBOE) will be required to give their permission for the proposed initiative to be published and for relevant regulations to be adopted. Furthermore, SBOE will be involved in setting standards for certification and accreditation of preparation programs for teachers (sboe.dc.gov). The National Board Certification (NBC) is a stakeholder in the proposed initiative given that it provides the national standards that indicate the qualifications that accomplished teachers are expected to have. NBC goes beyond licensure in the state of Maryland and is thus a key stakeholder because it will offer certification to teachers who will go through intensive process of certification (NEA, 2017). Parents are also stakeholders in the initiative because the move will have an impact on their children. Parental involvement is important as they will have a positive attitude and mobilize support towards the initiative when they understand the positive impact it will have on the performance of their children. Finally, the teachers who are the people who will be affected by the initiative have to be involved to avoid possible resistance. Involving teachers enables them to buy into the vision of the initiative and gain an understanding of how it will improve quality education even among juvenile offenders. For the new initiative to be approved, stakeholders have to be actively engaged during the entire process. Involving stakeholders helps to create supporters and champions for the new initiative (Shore, 2015). Stakeholders can be engaged by sharing the mission and vision of the new initiative with them. The vision helps them to get an idea of the purpose of the new initiatives and how things are likely to be if the implementation of the initiative is successful. The mission will give the stakeholders insight on what will be done and why various activities will be undertaken thereby increasing the chances of gaining their approval (https://ctb.ku.edu). Pilot testing is another strategy that can be used to get the approval of the stakeholders (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The proposed initiative can be tested within a small area in Maryland to determine whether being more rigorous on teachers and educators will yield positive outcomes. When the initiative proves to be a success the results can be used to seek support and advocate for the approval of the stakeholders. Furthermore, the success of the pilot test can be used to lobby for the approval of the initiative in one voice. Intensive research on the new initiative is also a strategy that can be used to increase the chances of the proposal being approved. Research offers vital information with regards to message development, lobbying, policy alternatives and planning. Therefore, research can help to strengthen the alliances and networks established with stakeholders. Consequently, stakeholders will find it easier to approve an initiative that is well-researched as they will clearly understand its intended objective. Conclusion The SWOT analysis of MSDE shows that the agency has indeed performed tremendously well except for a few threats and weaknesses that may be a hindrance to the achievement of its goals. Nonetheless, a new initiative can be adopted to ensure that the agency strengthens its operations and even improves on its weak areas. The proposed initiative is a good move especially when the necessary steps are taken to implement it properly. More importantly, the relevant stakeholders should be involved in the new initiative and even made to understand the bigger vision for its implementation as this will help to gain their support and approval in adopting the initiative. Overall, the agency is moving in the right direction as evidenced from its numerous strengths and its ability to effectively use organizational theories to its advantage.  References About the Maryland State Department of Education. Retrieved from: http://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Pages/default.aspx Advocacy Step 7: Developing and Implementing the Advocacy Plan. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK195418/ Developing Strategic and Action Plans. Retrieved from: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/developing-strategic-and-action-plans Dresser, M. & Green, E. (2015). Maryland Lawmakers Vow Action on Education of Juvenile Offenders. Retrieved from: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-juvenile-education-bills-20151228-story.html Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities (n.d). Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation of Students in Maryland Public Schools. Retrieved from: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/sites/default/files/patient-care-files/bullying-harassment-intimidation-students-maryland-public-schools.pdf Maryland State Department of Education (2017). Accomplishment Summary Update 2017: Strengthening Education in Maryland. Retrieved from: http://www.marylandpublicschools.org/stateboard/Documents/06272017/TabF-MSDEAccomplishment2017.pdf Maryland State Department of Education (n.d). Benefits. Retrieved from: http://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Pages/OHR/Benefits.aspx Maryland: Part B State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) Phase II. Retrieved from: http://mdideareport.org/SupportingDocuments/SSIPMarylandSchoolAge-PartB.pdf National Board Certification of Teachers (2017). 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Retrieved from: https://www.extension.harvard.edu/professional-development/blog/making-change-happen-five-keys-driving-successful-change-initiatives Sindhuja, S. (n.d). List of Top 3 Organization Theories. Retrieved from: http://www.businessmanagementideas.com/organisation/list-of-top-3-organisation-theories-management/9118 State Board of Education. Retrieved from: https://sboe.dc.gov/page/roles University of Maryland (2017). The Baltimore Sun: Minding the gap- Educators work to address SAT disparities in southwest county schools. Retrieved from: https://education.umd.edu/news/11-21-17-baltimore-sun-minding-gap-educators-work-address-sat-disparities-southwest-county Walonick, D. (1993). Organizational Theory and Behavior. Retrieved from: https://www.statpac.org/walonick/organizational-theory.htm SWOT ANALYSIS REPORT 11 Running head: SWOT ANALYSIS REPORT 1