Friday, June 29, 2007
KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT SUCCESS
These are also consistent with the components of the ASCA National Model(tm).
KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT SUCCESS
How can districts organize and manage themselves to achieve excellence in every school and classroom, and not just a few? For the past four years, a joint project of Harvard University’s business school and its graduate school of education has been pressing that question in partnership with nine large school districts around the country. Coherence is key, reports Lynn Olsen in Education Week. Districts have to start by focusing on the "instructional core," the critical work of teaching and learning that goes on in classrooms. They have to set concrete performance objectives and intermediate milestones to determine if they're making progress. District leaders also have to bring the key organizational elements of the school system together in a way that is congruent with the improvement strategy. Those elements include the culture of the district, or expectations about "how things work around here"; formal and informal structures and systems, such as the way decisions get made;
KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT SUCCESS
How can districts organize and manage themselves to achieve excellence in every school and classroom, and not just a few? For the past four years, a joint project of Harvard University’s business school and its graduate school of education has been pressing that question in partnership with nine large school districts around the country. Coherence is key, reports Lynn Olsen in Education Week. Districts have to start by focusing on the "instructional core," the critical work of teaching and learning that goes on in classrooms. They have to set concrete performance objectives and intermediate milestones to determine if they're making progress. District leaders also have to bring the key organizational elements of the school system together in a way that is congruent with the improvement strategy. Those elements include the culture of the district, or expectations about "how things work around here"; formal and informal structures and systems, such as the way decisions get made;
- accountability mechanisms;
- compensation arrangements and training programs;
- the allocation of resources, including people, technology, and data;
- the management of stakeholder relationships both inside and outside the organization;
- and the external environment, such as state rules and regulations, union contracts, and public and private funding sources.
