Chapter 14 -- The Jossey-Bass Reader on
Educational Leadership
Leading a School System Through Change
Key Steps for Moving Reform Forward
Where I Would Begin
Whatever moral authority resides in the school system, that authority resides in the office of the superintendent.
The superintendent can delegate to others nearly anything except the moral authority that resides in the office of superintendent.
Superintendents who use their office as a forum from which to lead will create an organization capable of leadership.
Strong leaders build cultures that outlive them; they lead even when they are gone.
Authoritarian leaders are weak. That is why they are authoritarian.
A participatory leader is a leader who is strong enough to trust others with his or her fate, just as he or she expects their trust in return.
Unfreezing the System
A new vision requires a new language.
The purpose of the school system I envision is to get students actively engaged in working on and with knowledge.
This I Believe: What about you?
Next Steps
Ask the board to commit to the development of a system-wide mission statement based on the beliefs I had outlined.
Propose that the board develop a policy statement assuring that, within a reasonable time period, at least 2 percent of the school system's operating budget would be committed to human resource development.
Ask the board to create a new position in the school district that I will call enrichment/demonstration teacher.
The board would be informed that I would want to establish a high-level office in the district responsible for coordinating all human resources development and school improvement activity.
Present the board with my action plan for the following nine months.
The First Year
During the initial period of change everything must be done with sufficient drama that people believe things are going to change.
Superintendent's role is primarily concerned with teaching, listening, reacting, developing, and learning.
Take the board and top union officials away on a retreat that focuses on my statement of beliefs.
People are more concerned that their advice be heard and taken seriously than that it be acted on.
Translating Beliefs into Action
One of the greatest barriers to school reform is the lack of a clear and compelling vision.
Beliefs must be supported by actions that translate a vision into concrete reality.
Such a dramatic event does not occur overnight or even in a year.
Specific actions that are needed will depend on the dynamics that surround the creation of the vision.
Creating a Results-Oriented System
A results-oriented management system will have little chance of success so long as students are viewed as products.
Schools will never improve if educators allow others to put them into the test-score, keeping-children-in-school, reducing-vandalism-rates, and reducing-suspensions business.
What is needed is a results-oriented management system that focuses internal attention on producing quality schoolwork for children.
Human Resource Development
The continuing education of teachers and administrators is, or should be, the responsibility of the employer.
The Restructuring Agenda
Schools restructuring begins with a vision that is compelling and satisfies values held by those who live and work in schools. Participatory leadership will be the mode of operation in healthy school districts.
Explore ways of reorienting the school district departments that are not located in school buildings but are staffed with people whose skills would be useful.
I would want a thorough review of policies, procedures, rules, and regulations.
Public education dealing with education issues and the building of alliances with local groups and agencies concerned with the quality of education would be a high priority.
Try to see that each employee, department, administrative unit, and school faculty would be required to submit a growth and improvement plan.
Jossey-Bass Publishers. The Jossey-Bass Reader on Education Leadership.