Leading Systemic School Improvement – serie

This book examines the school as an operational organization through the lens of systems thinking. In this way it serves as an invitation to look again at schools and how they operate as learning systems. It begins by showing exactly why our inherited, industrial school model, can never be made to work effectively no matter how hard school leaders try or how well schools are judged. This book uses systems thinking to explain and describe the management unlearning and new learning needed to create deep and fundamental changes to the way schools operate as complete learning entities. It explains why the reinstatement of the personal tutor in a vertical system is essential to the creation of a learning organization within a complete home/school operational learning process; one capable of building a values driven and more purposeful school culture within a more relevant and coherent society.

This book examines the school as an operational organization through the lens of systems thinking. In this way it serves as an invitation to look again at schools and how they operate as learning systems. It begins by showing exactly why our inherited, industrial school model, can never be made to work effectively no matter how hard school leaders try or how well schools are judged. This book uses systems thinking to explain and describe the management unlearning and new learning needed to create deep and fundamental changes to the way schools operate as complete learning entities. It explains why the reinstatement of the personal tutor in a vertical system is essential to the creation of a learning organization within a complete home/school operational learning process; one capable of building a values driven and more purposeful school culture within a more relevant and coherent society.

Here, Cambre and Hawkes offer a framework for thinking about technology as it impacts teaching and learning today. Toys, Tools & Teachers takes a hard look at the benefits and the trade-offs of a technology-saturated education. The authors look at technology through a trifocal lens: as teaching aid, as a threat, and as progress. They also explore ways in which technology can significantly impact education-through distance learning, networking, and wireless technologies. This book is a reflection on technology and a review of the footprint of technology on children's toys and the tools teachers and students have available for teaching and learning. As today's students are bombarded with things technological, school administrators and teachers are challenged on a daily basis to acquire up-to-date technologies and use them wisely in the teaching, learning, and testing process. Educators and parents are urged to discern the positive and negative effects of technology and make appropriate choices for their charges. Researchers are challenged to devise strategies for demonstrating the effectiveness of technology and for pointing the way to better methods of integrating technology so that no child is left behind.Will be of interest to parents, school board members, and educators.

Adventures of Charter School Creators takes the reader inside the world of individual educational entrepreneurs who have created charter schools from scratch and lived to tell about it. Drawn from examples across the country, individuals (and a few teams) tell their stories of the victories they enjoyed and the defeats they overcame to create their schools. They include an Episcopal priest working in the Pico-Union community of Los Angeles, a corporate attorney in Miami, a manpower training specialist in East Saint Louis, the chief financial officer of a major African American church in New York City, a retired military officer in North Carolina, as well as experienced school teachers and administrators. From these stories Deal and Hentschke extract and examine the issues of school leadership that are peculiar to those school leaders who have chosen to create schools from scratch. This book: Examines entrepreneurial leadership as a concrete manifestation of school leadership. Sheds light on the concrete differences between leadership in relatively autonomous start-up charters and the relatively dependent traditional schools. Anchors charter school leadership within the context of general (non-education) leadership and distinguishes it from what is typically associated with school leadership today. It describes: The general forces in society which are pushing public K-12 education into market-based initiatives. The general leadership issues of any break-away or start-up enterprise. Will be of interest to all educators.

Instructional quality is one of the most important factors in effective teaching. Without it, school reform is impossible. How can leaders develop and implement strategies to improve faculty quality and then manage the process of school reform in today's complex school environments? The authors answer this question through the study of a systemic reform initiative that was launched in San Diego, California in the late 1990s. San Diego was selected for the study because of its proactive attempts to address the quality of teaching, while simultaneously incorporating California's complex, multi-faceted policies directed at education reform. Instructional Leadership for Systemic Change: Provides a rich, comprehensive description of how a major urban school reform initiative was undertaken, Describes political conflicts and implementation issues that occur in real world reform, Describes the changes undertaken to revise the reform each year, Details the various outcomes that occurred for schools and students at different levels. Will be useful to administrators in training, students of leadership and reform, and researchers and policy analysts interested in the anatomy of school change and improvement.

Most school boards delegate curriculum and assessment to school administrators, which in effect, lowers standards and leads to aggressive intervention by policy makers at the state and federal levels. This book is designed to stimulate and assist local boards in the proper exercise of their legal authority over curriculum and assessment. It discusses why non-educators should govern the core of every school by determining what is to be learned and whether it is being learned, and how the work of the board can be divided from the work of the superintendent on such matters. Features: A graphic essay dividing the governing responsibilities of a board of education from the administrative responsibilities of the superintendent, 20 key policy questions that every board should answer, Alternate policy positions a board might consider adopting with alternative positions supported by appropriate arguments, Samples of actual policies adopted by boards to govern curriculum and illustrate the level of detail and the writing style boards might want to use for its own policies. This book will assist school board members, superintendents, curriculum directors and specialists, and testing directors, raise standards for learning in local schools.

Our public school systems must be transformed in order to help every child achieve his or her potential. However, transformational leadership can be intense, complex, and often chaotic, producing storms of resistance, controversy, and pressure. To survive such storms, author Scott Thompson contends that educators must learn to lead with peace and clarity. In this book, Thompson aims to make new connections within the education reform movement, unleash new energies among leaders, and open new perspectives. Through research and in-depth interviews with seventeen educational leaders, the author explores new developments in the area of spiritual leadership for the systemic improvement of public schools. Topics of discussion include:·Core values ·Moral purpose ·Building shared trust ·Ownership, and ·Vision These and other dimensions of spiritual leadership are given grounding with practical examples and tangible results.For superintendents, central office directors, school board members, principals, teacher leaders, and those who facilitate or provide technical assistance on systemic educational improvement.

The interplay of power, political behavior, and ethics has been the subject of many books and articles about business organizations, but little has been published about using power and political skills in ethical ways to lead whole-system change in school districts. This book does. Readers will learn about the context for change in school districts, including a compendious description of a methodology specially designed to create and sustain whole-system change. Seven essays written by noted theorists and practitioners provide valuable insights on how to use power and political skills in ethical ways. This book will be of interest to change leaders, policy makers, and preparation programs for future school district leaders.

The interplay of power, political behavior, and ethics has been the subject of many books and articles about business organizations, but little has been published about using power and political skills in ethical ways to lead whole-system change in school districts. This book does. Readers will learn about the context for change in school districts, including a compendious description of a methodology specially designed to create and sustain whole-system change. Seven essays written by noted theorists and practitioners provide valuable insights on how to use power and political skills in ethical ways. This book will be of interest to change leaders, policy makers, and preparation programs for future school district leaders.

The Future of Schools will help changemakers move toward better functioning school systems using reliable, participative, and practical methods. The author describes an orderly sequence of activities that are intertwined with simple explanations. The principles and methods on which the book is based, follow from over fifty years of research ensuring that the processes yield reliable results. Each chapter discusses a range of variations and examples with both successful applications and potential pitfalls with simple ways of avoiding them. These variations and examples help the school district and its community to choose the best path through the planning and design processes for their unique people and circumstances.All of the methods and processes described are totally participative so that the schools and communities who use them can develop ownership of the processes and their outcomes. Not only does the school district change for the better, the community itself becomes more socially cohesive through working together for a common purpose.

Priority Leadership shows not only what actions and attitudes leaders should take, but also what pitfalls to avoid. Each chapter addresses hindrances to change and hallways for improvement. It is a practical book that will put into the hands of educators a blueprint for positive change that will lead to measurable improvement. This book will be of interest to all educational leaders.

Times of great change in school districts require strategic communication with internal and external stakeholders including the use of school public relations tools and techniques. Strategic Communication During Whole System Change provides theoretical and practical advice and guidance to district-based change leaders and school public relations specialists on how they can support their district's transformation journey by engaging in strategic communication. The book also provides guidance on how to make simultaneous fundamental changes in three key sets (or change paths) of organizational variables that affect a school system's overall performance: Path 1-a district's relationship with stakeholders in the external environment; Path 2- a district's core and supporting work processes; and Path 3- a district's internal social infrastructure. A collection of essays written by school public relations practitioners and other change leaders who share their views is also included.

Times of great change in school districts require strategic communication with internal and external stakeholders including the use of school public relations tools and techniques. Strategic Communication During Whole System Change provides theoretical and practical advice and guidance to district-based change leaders and school public relations specialists on how they can support their district's transformation journey by engaging in strategic communication. The book also provides guidance on how to make simultaneous fundamental changes in three key sets (or change paths) of organizational variables that affect a school system's overall performance: Path 1-a district's relationship with stakeholders in the external environment; Path 2- a district's core and supporting work processes; and Path 3- a district's internal social infrastructure. A collection of essays written by school public relations practitioners and other change leaders who share their views is also included.

As a unique contribution to education, organizational dynamics, and systemic thinking, this field guide presents a grand opportunity to forefront systems thinking and to hold up to the world examples of current systemic thinking and action relating to education in a broader social and global context. Systems Thinkers in Action provides an insightful look into education in relation to a concept that has already been abuzz for a few decades in science and nearly two decades in business and therapy. This book will encourage and educate readers within the field and excite them about systemic thinking through examples and challenging ideas pertinent to education and its reform.

As a unique contribution to education, organizational dynamics, and systemic thinking, this field guide presents a grand opportunity to forefront systems thinking and to hold up to the world examples of current systemic thinking and action relating to education in a broader social and global context. Systems Thinkers in Action provides an insightful look into education in relation to a concept that has already been abuzz for a few decades in science and nearly two decades in business and therapy. This book will encourage and educate readers within the field and excite them about systemic thinking through examples and challenging ideas pertinent to education and its reform.

Dream! Create! Sustain! is written for courageous, passionate, and visionary change leaders working in school systems throughout the world. It provides those change leaders with essential concepts, principles, strategies, and tactics for how to create and sustain whole-system change in their school systems. The information provided by Duffy is based on years of research on and real-world experience with systemic change, learning organizations, systems thinking, and organization-wide change. This book includes a description of a transformational change methodology and set of tools specifically designed to create and sustain whole-system change.