You Cant Get There From HerePaul Richardson February 2012 Update

That is, the Standard Operating Procedures way of managing large school districts isnt working and wont work to fix the abysmal performance of the districts. You say that is not a fair assessment. It is fair. Which will help the kids the mosttrying to defend poor performance by propaganda tricks, or facing the truth and realizing massive change is required to kick this pig and get problems fixed before more kids futures are destroyed. Decade after decade our educators failure to own up to their poor performance caused by their ed school training in methods that havent worked and cant work continues to harm millions of American kids. Kids who desperately need a quality education to compete in the increasingly competitive global meritocracy. No matter how hard you try you cant justify ignoring this performance or assert that the current way of operating will be able to fix it. The current decision making structure of school districts has to be changed if you are truly committed to the goals you say are important to you; improving achievement scores, reducing the achievement gap. . . Is reading performance better? A little but still at an unacceptable level considering the ridiculously low standards compared to other competitors who beat us in international testing. Assuming our education enterprise is mostly well managed and performing well, only needing some tweaks to improve it is an illusion. The structure is fatally flawed and needs to be replaced. You say, You cant throw the baby out with the bathwater. The baby died decades ago. In the past [Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries] American education was a renowned academic powerhouse. Today people in other countries look at American education and marvel (and rejoice) in how poorly we do and how unwilling we are to change. They know as long as we refuse to face reality and compete they have an opportunity to grab more and more economic advantage over us.

From EdWeek articleWe Know how to turn schools around, Allan R. Odden Dec. 9, 2009 "The problem isn't funding, it is having the will and persistence to fix the system." The first step is to create a sense of urgency The next step is setting ambitioussome might call them eye-poppinggoals The next step for turnaround schools is to throw out the old curriculum and adopt new textbooks, create new curriculum programs, and start to build, over time, a common understanding of effective instruction The fourth strategy is to move beyond a concentration on state tests Step five is creating and implementing an intensive and ongoing professional-development program Many students will need extended learning time and extra help to attain proficiency Time is also used more effectively in these schools

Leadership Turnaround schools and districts are professional in the best sense of the word It takes talent to accomplish lofty goals and implement the collaborative and powerful educational strategies discussed here. Often, the initial talent in low-performing schools is not up to the task.

The admin in the district will tell you they are doing most if not all of these. They arent even close to the rigorous status required to get things moving in the right direction. Added research by Peters and Waterman [In Search of Excellence] studied successful American companies and concluded that there are eight attributes that characterize innovative companies. They: 1. Have a bias for action--when a problem presents itself, this company acts quickly to move forward; 2. Are close to the customer--products are the result of customer satisfaction; 3. Foster autonomy and entrepreneurship among all workers--individuals are encouraged to make a contribution that will benefit the customer and the company; 4. Consider productivity results through the efforts of people--workers are empowered to do their job and to build-in quality up front; 5. Are hands-on and value-driven companies that care about their people and not only doing the right thing, but doing it the right way; 6. Stay close to what they know and build upon their strengths; 7. Have simple organization and lean bureaucratic structures--matrix organizational structures are too complex; and 8. Are both centralized and decentralized--autonomy is centered on the workforce.

Lets now compare the 8 attributes of successful companies identified by Waterman and Peters to the attributes of the vast majority of public education school districts. Successful Companies Research Have a bias for action School Districts Appt committees, require multiple levels of review, final approval by board, SLOW AND PONDEROUS. Not responsive to the customer as their input is not valued by the education experts The top down structure fosters a carry out the orders from on high workplace with no room for individual initiative Workers are not empowered but are essentially treated like robots Are top heavy and insular with little management by wandering around Prone to follow every new fad that is touted by ed experts Complex top heavy, highly formalized, labyrinthine structures that make nimbleness impossible and communication very difficult Highly centralized leading to the inability to make improvement let alone quickly, no workforce autonomy

Are close to the customer

Foster autonomy and entrepreneurship among all workers Workers are empowered to do their job and to build-in quality up front Are hands-on and value-driven Build upon their strengths, tend to their knitting Simple organization and lean bureaucratic structures; matrix organizational structures are too complex Are both centralized and decentralized autonomy is centered on the workforce

There can be little doubt that the current management structure in our school districts is ideal for maintaining the status quo, stifling individual contribution to their abilities, poor performance in serving the kids, and low rates of job satisfaction and morale. You [the board] have an opportunity to reform the district into a performance organization that serves the kids and community much better. And in the process becomes a magnet for students from other districts instead of the other way around.

Sincerely, Paul Richardson

My Suggested Action List What can/should the board do?

1. Instill a very high sense of urgency and management by exception culture. That is, focus on 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

what is going wrong, prioritize the list and urgently address the biggest problems first. Set much higher goals and make them real goals in the SMART format; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-based. On the achievable part, realize that far, far more is achievable than the organization is used to believing. Stretch that muscle, get it in shape. Streamline the decision-making process in the district. The current plodding pace of making decisions ensures that people have forgotten the reason they started to work on something by the time a decision is finally made. The appoint committees, hire consultants, get supe and exec director approval and then present to board for approval takes months. This is no way to run an organization that needs to swiftly improve its performance. You need to be able to delegate so that decisions can be made in a data driven, closed loop, short cycle way. Decisions arent to be feared, they can be corrected as necessary in real time by looking at the ongoing data stream. Also, the leaders need to be held responsible for improvement and given the authority to manage to their budget for success. This means that it isnt how big the bonus for the supe will be, it is, will the leaders finally begin earning their base salary and will they be retained in their job for the coming year? Require that the human resource in the district be rigorously evaluated and that action be taken to upgrade the quality and skill of people you have to do the job. Ignoring poor performance, and there is plenty, will not help the kids. Force the Admin structure to be streamlined from the current top heavy, labyrinthine, communication hampering mess. This is important to be done before contracts are renewed out of habit before the end of the current school year.

This is a partial list but would get you well started on the road to rehabilitating the district and serving the kids much better.