Transcript Topic 1 Evolution of District Leadership

Topic 1
Evolution of District
Leadership-Overview
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Evolution of the Position
Evolution of the Training Requirements
Evolution of Responsibilities
Evolution of Important Issues
District Leaders Today
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Evolution of the Position
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Schools first evolved to meet religious needs
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As towns grew councilmen were appointed to oversee schools
Further growth usually resulted in specialization of
councilmen
School boards evolved from these specialized councilmen
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Visited schools
Provided pay for teachers
Supplied equipment and meeting place
School inspector emerged from these school committees
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Governed by clergy, church councils or town councils
supervise schools
keep official records
select and assign teachers
arbitrate boundary disputes
As towns and schools grew the inspector job was given to
one individual who often was paid (first superintendent)
As complexity and scope of the position grew it evolved
into a full time position
The notion of scientific management enhanced the power
of the position
AASA started to form in the late 1880'sprofessionalization
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Evolution of the Training
Requirements
• Education has become more important
• Certification requirements increased from 19 to
41 states between 1939 and 1955
• Establishment of CPEA (Cooperative Program
in Educational Administration) by Kellogg
Foundation - Evolved to UCEA
• Scientific Movement to Human Relations
Movement to Instructional Leadership to
Conflict Management
• Degrees Held by Superintendents
De gre e
1899
1923
1951
1982
1992
None
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BS
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MS
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Spe cialis t
Doctor ate
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Evolution of
Responsibilities
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Initially the board's right hand man
Inspector of schools
As power became centralized, then the advice giver to
BOE
Scientific movement
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Human relations movement
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Improve test scores
Staff development
Construction of elaborate curriculum guides
Conflict Management
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concern for democratic administration
schools were to transmit culture
communications with school publics
Instructional Leadership
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advise on efficiency matters
advise on curricular matters
advise about personnel
advise about facilities
balancing special interest groups
resolving conflict and power issues
involvement with state and local politics
Evolution dependent on district size and location
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Evolution of Important
Issues
• Supervision of instruction and curriculum
(1800's)
• Increasing efficiency in the schools-scientific
management (early 1900's)
• Democracy in the schools- policies of inclusion
(mid-1900's)
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Brown case
special education
vocational education
increased special interest group involvement
• Last ten years
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Equity via school finance
Who will determine policy - national, state, local
School board relations
Conflict among special interest groups
Changing composition of SB
Increasing, decreasing, shifting enrollment
Demographic changes in district's students
Erosion of middle class values
Loss of public confidence
• more active press
• less restrained press
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District Leaders Today
• The Superintendent
– Chief Executive officer of the school board
– Chief professional advisor to the school board
– Serves at the pleasure of the BOE usually via a
negotiated contract
– Characteristics of Superintendents
• mostly men but that is changing
• most govern very small school districts less than 1500
students
• most have been teachers, principals although not all
• Almost all have at least a master's degree--large districts
have Ed.D or Ph.D.
– Preparation to become a Superintendent
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Topic 2
The Tasks of District
Leadership-Overview
• Classical Categories
• Functional Tasks
• Organic Heath Functions
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Classical Categories
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Finance
Budgeting
Business management
Personnel administration
Curriculum and instruction
Policy development
Community relations
State and federal relations
Site management
Co-curricular activities
Transportation
Food management
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Functional Tasks
• Symbolic responsibilities
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establish value orientations
signify what is important to the staff
reinforce norms of expectations
communicate the schools goals to the public and staff
• Personnel responsibilities
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setting examples of behavior that is expected
promoting staff development and innovation
conduct wage, salary, and benefit negotiations
mediate personnel problems--keep people productive
evaluate principals and help them improve
• Structural responsibilities
– establish and oversee curriculum and instructional
program
– search for efficient and effective processes in all areas
– maintain administrative support structure--buildings,
books, boilers
– coordinate the systems various parts
• Political responsibilities
– garner resources for the district
– maintain public support
– establish political support mechanisms
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Organic Heath Functions
• Adaptation Activities--helping the district deal
effectively with the parents, the community, and
external change
– establishing monitoring mechanisms
– encouraging staff to find new techniques and
curriculum
– participating in community activities
– increasing the district's flexibility
– finding funding for the school
– participating in community organizations
• Maintenance Activities--helping the district
create and maintain the motivational and value
structure
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myth building
treating all staff equitably
creating vision for the district
helping the staff develop a common vision
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Organic Health-continued
• Integration--helping the district organize,
coordinate, and unify the parts and tasks
– increasing internal communications
– affording joint planning time
• Goal Attainment--helping the staff define
objectives, mobilize resources, and achieve
desired ends
– establishing curricular goals
– establishing quality control processes
– monitoring student progress
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Examples of
Superintendent Activities
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Keeping accurate teacher certification records
Working with the math curriculum committee
Hosting faculty parties before the winter break
Giving presentations to Elks Club
Encouraging cooperative planning between the
elementary schools
Examining individual staff workloads and
distributing responsibilities appropriately
Holding weekly meetings with local newspaper
reporter
Encouraging testimonials of the effectiveness of
certain past district practices
Encouraging parent-teacher cooperation and
communications
Establishing parent advisory boards
Negotiate the teacher contract
Oversee the production of district newsletter
Having teachers exchange positions on a regular basis
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Topic 3 The Promise of
Leadership-Overview
• Historical Views of Leadership
– findings on the traits of leaders
– findings on the style of leaders
– findings of behavioral studies of leaders
• Contemporary Views of Leadership
• Example of leadership research in teacher
supervision
• Environment Shaping Views of Leadership
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Historical Views of
Leadership
• Great Man Characteristics
– traits (tall, gender, race, intelligence)
– styles (consideration, aggressive, understanding)
– behaviors (patterns of behavior such as
decentralization)
• Progression
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examination of a small number of variables
examination of multiple variables
examination of variable interactions
path-analytic studies employing many variables and
linking relationships sought
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Findings on the Traits of
Leaders (1900-1960)
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In general, all leaders posses some common traits
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intelligence
dominance
self-confidence
high energy or activity level
Some situations demand more or less of a large set of
characteristics
Other individuals other than leaders also possess
many of these characteristics
Leadership is moderated by the task at hand
Interactions between traits and tasks are common
Current research interest in determining what traits
(and to what degree) are necessary but not sufficient
for leadership
Example: How much intelligence is necessary to lead
a school system
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Minimal level is necessary
More IQ may not be necessary
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Findings on the Style of
Leaders (1950-1970)
• Definition: actions, dispositions, or behavior
patterns
• Heroes, Princes, Supermen
• Categories (examples)
– high or low participative
– initiating structure or consideration
– democratic or autocratic
• Goal was to find the ideal style
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mostly abandoned
most effective leaders score high on all dimensions
effective leaders have a repertoire of styles
effective style related to the situation
style interacts with group expectations
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Findings of Behavioral
Studies of Leaders
(1960-present)
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Many studies derived from the Ohio State Leadership
Studies using Leader Behavior Description
Questionnaire (LBDQ)
An attempt to operationalize the style dimension, that
is, what one would do if they were high on
consideration
An attempt to link leader behavior to a variety of
other variables (success, motivation, satisfaction)
Most rely on questionnaire, self-reported data
(triangulation is necessary for solid studies)
Other problems
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reputed or reported data
lack of observational measures
subjects were often lower-level positions
frequent use of convenience samples
endless replication of studies of same type
Preferences and expectations for leader behavior vary as does
impact of leadership
Directional effects may be of importance. Who does the
principal attend to and what are the reciprocal effects
Attribution theory could be an important field of study in this
area
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Contemporary Views of
Leadership (1970present)
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Most current studies are situational in nature. The
attempt is to study leadership behavior in a very
narrow context
Fiedler's Leader Match concept (two dimensions)
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Style of leader
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Degree of control of the situation
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high task or high relationship
viewed as an unalterable aspect of personality
leader-member relationship
task structure
position power - reward or punish subordinates
Task - oriented leaders perform best in either low - control or a
high - control situation
Relationship - oriented leaders perform best in moderate control situations
High Control
High Task Best
High Relational Best
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Low Control
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Hersey and Blanchard (1988) viewed leadership in
similar way
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Combination of task and relationship but two dimensional
Situation determined by assessing readiness of individual or
group to perform task
Low readiness calls for task - oriented leadership, high readiness
calls for relational leadership
Readiness levels can change with tasks and over time
High Readiness
Relational
Leadership
High Task Clarity
Low Task Clarity
Task
Leadership
Low Readiness
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Example Leadership
Research
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Environment Shaping
Views of Leadership
• Limits on Heroic Leadership
– diminished positional power
– organizations have become too complex to rely on
formal authority
– special interest groups are actively petitioning leaders to
exert influence
– Johnson "notions of heroic leadership are of little use"
– "Today's leaders must understand limits and potential
of their position carefully balancing authority with their
reliance on others, gradually building both a capacity
and support for shared leadership and collaborative
change" Johnson
• Limits on Trait Leadership
– Context and times matter - behaviors in one setting may
not work in others, superintendents work in embedded
contexts
– Concept of locale values and history
– Concept of local organization in which superintendents
act
• district history
• constituents often determines who their leaders will be
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Topic 4
Understanding and
Managing
Organizations-Overview
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Human Resource Frame
Symbolic Frame
Political Frame
Structural Frame
Linking Frames with Tasks
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Boleman and Deal's
Frames of Reference
• Simplistic solutions
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One Minute Manager
top management strategies
In Search of Excellence
Effective Schools Research
Seven Habits of Effective People
• Complexity of Organizations
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hectic
rapid shifts
decisions typically energize
other loaded information systems
• Frames provide a way of looking at
organizations and evaluating possible actions
strategies
• Four useful frames
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Structural Frame
Human Resource Frame
Political Frame
Symbolic Frame
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Structural Approach
• Based on the work of Industrial Psychologists
Fredrick Taylor (1911): Urwick, Fayol, Gulick
(1920-50): Max Weber (1947)
• Common set of beliefs in scientific management
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specialization
span of control
authority
delegation
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Assumptions of the
Structural Approach
– Organizations exist primarily to accomplish established
goals
– For any organization, there is a structure appropriate to
the goals, the environment, the technology, and the
participants
– Organizations work best when environmental
turbulence and the personal preferences of participants
are constrained by norms of rationality
– Specialization permits higher levels of individual
expertise and performance
– Coordination and control are accomplished but through
the exercise of authority and impersonal rules
– Structures can be systematically designed and
implemented
– Problems usually reflect an inappropriate structure and
can be reached through redesign
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Elements of Structure
• Achieving a balance between differentiation and
integration is a fundamental issue
• Differentiation/integration is reflected in the
relations among four major elements
– Organizational levels
• institutional level
• managerial level
• technical level
– Goals
– Roles
• allocates activities and responsibilities across participants
• vary considerably across organizations of different sizes or
locations
• as organizations become larger and more complex,
specialization is higher and role structure more complex
– Linkages-- keeping organizations together
• differentiation leads to interdependence
• types of interdependence: pooled, sequential, reciprocal
• interdependence increases as one moves from pooled to
reciprocal
• the higher the specialization the more complex the
interdependence
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• Organizations attempt to coordinate and control
in two ways
– Vertically through authority and rules (SOPs)
• likely to be significant when environment is stable and the
task well understood
– Laterally, through meetings, task forces, special
coordinating roles
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Technology and the
Structural Approach
• A major factor in influencing how and
organization is structured
• Differ in their clarity, predictability, and
effectiveness
• The clearer the technology, the more structure is
tolerated
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Environment and the
Structural Approach
• Environment is everything outside the
boundaries of an organization
• Different parts of the organization may face very
different environments
• The degree of environmental dependence varies
• Organizations buffer the environment by
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coding
stockpiling
leveling demand
forecasting
growth through the economy of scale factor
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Structure, Technology,
and Environment
• Effective organizations develop structures to
match the demands of technologies and
environments
• There is no best way to organize
• Structure depends on uncertainty
– simple stable environment leads to a simple stable
structure
– turbulent environment leads to a differentiated, flexible
structure
• The more diverse the environment, the more
differentiation in structure is needed
• Bureaucratic organizations are most likely to be
effective in relatively stable predictable
environments
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Typical Points of Analysis
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overlap
gaps
under use
overload
excessive interdependence
excessive autonomy
too many meetings
too many rules
diffuse authority
too loose versus too tight
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Practice
• For each innovation listed below, describe where
it would fit into the structural frame of reference
(not all may fit well)
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vocational education
chronological grouping of children
tracked curriculum
guidance councilors
department chairpersons
carefully sequenced curriculum
site-based management
teacher strike of contract language
extensive use of curriculum coordinators
personnel policy manual
career ladders for teachers
higher teacher certification requirements
competency testing of students
parent choice in selection of schools
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Mitzberg's Model
School Boa rd
Super intende nt
Strategic Apex
Assistant
Super intende nt for
Fina nc e
Dire c tor of Feder al
P rogr am s
Technostructure
Assistant
Super intende nt
for Oper ations
Dire c tor of
Elem e ntar y/
Sec onda ry
Educa tion
Busine ss Ma na ge r
Dire c tor of P er sonnel
Support Staff
Building P rincipa l
Dire c tor of Spe cial Educ a tion
Dire c tor of Cur riculum
Cur ric ulum Coor dinator
Dire c tor of Eva luation
Dire c tor of Food Se rvice
Dire c tor of Buildings
Middle Line
a nd Grounds
Food Ser vice wor ke r
Custodia n
Sec re tar y
Assistant P rinc ipa l f or
Assistant P rinc ipa l f or
Instructional Se rvic es
Student Se rvice s
Lea d Te ac he r
Libr ar ia n
Music Tea cher
Depar tm e nt Chair
Operative Core
Building Cur ric ulum
Coordina tor
Elem e ntar y Te ac he r
Sec onda ry Tea cher
Art Te ac her
Spe cia l Educ ation
Tea cher
Figure 4-1 Mint zberg's Organizational Model Applied t o School Districts
Source: Modificat ion of Figure 1-3, page 18, Henry Mintzberg,
Structure in Fives: Designing
Effective Organizations
. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prent ice-Hall, 1983.
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Possible Organizational
Structures
Figure 4-2 Pictoral Representations of Mintzberg's Structural Models
Source: Hemry Mintzberg (1983). Structure in Fives: Designing
Effective Organizations . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Pages 159,
170, 194, 225, and, 262.
Strategic
Apex
Strategic
Apex
Technos
tructure
Support
Staff
Middle Line
Operating Core
Operating Core
Figure 4-2a Simple Structure
Technostructure
Figure 4-2b Machine Bureaucracy
Strategic
Apex
Strategic
Apex
Support Staff
Technostructure Support Staff
Middle Line
Operating Core
Figure 4-2c Professional Bureaucracy
Middle Line
Operating Core
Figure 4-2d Adhocracy
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Deciding What Different
Structures to Employ
• Goals of the Organization
– Simple goals dictate simple structures
– Clear goals dictate simple structures
– Complex, uncertain goals demand more sophisticated
and decentralization
• Environment of the Organization
– Large organizations tend to need more structure
– Unstable environments require less structure
– Availability and dependability of resources points to
more structure
– Different products result in more units in organizations
– Hostility results in more centralization
– Diversity in environment leads to decentralization of
units
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• Organizational age and size
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The older the more formalized
Structure reflects the age of founding
The larger the more elaborate the structure
The larger the larger the average size on the units
The larger the more formalized its behavior
• Technical System
– More regulating the more formalized and bureaucratic
– More technical the core the more elaborate the
structure
– Automation increases the organic nature of organization
• Power
– Greater external control more centralized and formal
– Greater power needs of members greater centralization
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Managerial Levers
• Important issues for superintendents as they try
to lead through the formal structure
– What is the right balance between centralizing and
decentralization, standardization and variation
– How to organize the central office
– How to select and supervise the principals
• Letting Go While Holding On
– Vertical and Horizontal coordination a big concern
• Meetings
– Principals alone
– All administrators
– Central office staff only
• Ways of obtaining general understanding, obtaining
feedback, incorporating values
• How do you have meetings when administrative staff is
large
– Planning Ahead
• Long and short range plans
• Linking building and district plans
– Leading the Way With Values
• Vision is important here
• Symbolism is essential
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Managerial Levers continued
• Making Downtown Efficient and Responsive
– Central office is superintendent's right hand
– Quality of central office staff
– Superintendents have greater opportunity to rearrange
and hire here
• Building experience vs.. expertise is an issue here
• What to do with the leftovers is a problem
• Connecting the Central Office to the Schools
– Increasing the direct connections to the guts of the
school
– Making sure helpful advice and expertise was present in
central office
– Halting rule generation in the central office
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• Choosing and Guiding Principals
– Selecting principals
• who makes selection
• to what extent are parents, teachers involved
• what is the role of the board
– Supervising Principals
• Direct supervision may increase connections to the power
base in the schools
• Favors may be more easily exchanged through direct
connection
• Communication is better enhanced through direct
supervision
• How many principals can a superintendent supervise?
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Human Resource Frame
of Reference
• While rationality is a central motif in the
structural perspective, the interplay between the
organization and people is the focus of the
human resource frame
• HR frame assumes that people are the most
critical resource in an organization
• Built around several assumptions
– organizations exist to serve human needs
– organizations and people need each other
– when the fit is poor, the organization and individual will
suffer
– when the fit is good, both will benefit
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The Fit Determined by
Needs
• Maslow- hierarchy of needs concept
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physiological
safety
belongingness and love
esteem
self-actualization
• McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y
– Theory X - subordinates are passive, resistive, have little
ambition, prefer to be led, self-centered, do not want to
risk change
– Theory Y - task is to arrange conditions so that people
can achieve their own goals by directing their efforts
toward organizational goals
– Theory X relies on external control: Theory Y relies on
self-control and direction
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• Argyris - people develop in particular directions
as they mature
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passivity to activity
high dependence to independence
narrow range of skills to diverse range
short time perspective to longer perspective
low levels of self-awareness to high levels
concern for self to concern for others
– Employees will resist if there is a basic conflict between
organization and employees
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physical withdrawal
psychological withdrawal
movement to another position or job
formation of political groups to address unbalances
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Inappropriate Manager
Responses
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Strong dynamic leadership
Tighter control
”Human relations" programs
Selling management philosophy
Pseudo participation
Communication programs
Attempts to implement Human Resource
Management programs
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Job enrichment and job enlargement
participation management or quality circles
organizational democracy
organizational development programs
Theory Z implementation or Deming's philosophy
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lifetime employment
subtle evaluations and infrequent promotions
generalized career paths
collective decision making
collective not individual effort
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Political Frame of
Reference
• The political frame views organizations as
"alive" political arenas that house a complex
variety of interest groups
• Assumptions of the political frame
– Important decisions involve the allocation of scare
resources
– Organizations are coalitions composed of a number of
individuals and interest groups
– Interest groups differ in their values, preferences,
beliefs, and perceptions of reality
– Differences are usually enduring and change slowly
– Organizational goals and decisions emerge from
ongoing bargaining
– Power and conflict are central features of organizational
life
– Goal development in public agencies typically results in
a confusing mix of statements, many of which are in
conflict
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Power and Decision
Making
• Structural - managers make decisions, monitor
implementation, evaluate results
• Human Resource - little emphasis on power but
rather how it impedes the integration of the
organizational and individual needs
• Political Frame - focuses on situations of scarce
resources and incompatible preferences and how
groups use power (may not be a win/win
situation available)
• Forms of power
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authority
expertise
control of rewards
coercive power (withholding of services)
personal power
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• Role Conflict Analysis (Gamson, 1968)
– Focuses on two main players in organizations
• Authorities - make binding decisions, but are the target of
influence
• Partisans - targets of control but agents of influence
– Social control is essential to managers because their
capacity to make decisions depends on it (undermines
position)
– Partisans may or may not have an interest in
maintaining existing power structure - it depends on
how much trust is involved
– Zone of independence - areas which few people have a
vested interest
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Symbolic Frame of
Reference
• Departs significantly from a world of rational
thought
• Major assumptions of the symbolic frame
– Importance of an event is derived not from what
happened but the meaning of what happened
– Meaning is determined by the ways that humans and
groups interpret what happened
– It is often difficult to know exactly what happened in an
organization, why it happened, or what will happen next
– Ambiguity and uncertainty undermine rational
approaches
– Humans create symbols to reduce the ambiguity, resolve
confusion, increase predictability, and provide direction
• Centers on the concepts of meaning, belief, faith
• Played out in the form of Myths, Metaphors, and
Scenarios
• Myths and tales makes it easier to develop
internal cohesion and a sense of direction but
can be resistant to change
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Linking Frames with
Organizational Health
Symbolic
Political Structural
Human
Resource
Goal
Attainment
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Integration
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Adaptation
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Maintenance
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Topic 5
Educational LeadershipOverview
• Crafting a Vision
• Leading Reform
• Promoting Change
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Crafting a Vision
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"The critical point is that a vision articulates a
view of a realistic, credible, attractive future for
the organization"
• Need for a Vision
– Can focus the efforts of others as they determine what is
important and what is expected
– Provides the bridge to the future
– Requires the leader to ground personal values in context
and expressing them in practice
• vision is required to get the job
• execution of vision is required to keep the job
– If leaders do not express a vision, constituents will often
infer them
– Often brings direction to existing visions
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• Crafting a Vision
– Situating a personal vision in the local context
• most leaders modify vision based on what is in the
community
• some leaders use vision to sell themselves but make future
difficult
• "you have to articulate visions that you believe in, ...but
that the community is
ready for and ones that make sense to the community"
• "a leader must be able to see what kind of flowers will
bloom from this plant in this environment"
• in many cases the process seems as important at the
product
• What works
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Vision is clear and coherent
Addresses important needs
Shaped to fit context
Championed by leaders
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Crafting a Vision continued
• Independent Visions: Do they Work?
– May allow vision to be clearer, more coherent, and less
affected by political agendas
– May expedite its implementation
– Can create over-reliance on superintendent
– What happens when superintendent leaves?
– Communities vision may not coincide with the
superintendent's
– May cause resentment, resistance, and backlash
• Collaboration?
– Superintendents may be portrayed as indecisive and
lose support
– May be criticized as politically unwise
– Severity of problem may dictate collaboration necessary
– People can become more vested
– Helps provide feedback
– Can help accommodate opposing views and resistance
• Communicating a Vision
– Must be understood, meaningful, and constituents must
know how it applies to them
– Small number of things and stay with over a long period
of time
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– Need to be able to translate into practice
– Practice what he or she preaches
Class Discussion
• What is the superintendent's vision in your
school district?
• How did this vision come about?
• Was it imported or evolve locally?
• To what extend did the superintendent use "a
vision" to obtain the job?
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Leading Reform
• " It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times"
Many opportunities but also many solutions
• A superintendent has to judge which reforms are
right for his or her district
• There are also important questions about what is
the right process
• Problems
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"many teachers and principals have been numbed by
a decade of urgency"
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"teachers and principals often resent becoming
agents of someone else's career advancements”
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• Success as reformers
– Constituents must be convinced that the proposed
reform is worthwhile and locally warranted
– Strategy for implementation must be viable
– Teachers and principals must believe that the
superintendent is credible, trustworthy, and ready to see
change through
– "Constituents weigh the difficulty of what they are
being asked to do against what they perceive to be the
credibility and trustworthiness of their superintendent
– Superintendent must assess
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Schools' strengths
Pressing needs
History
Who has power and influence
Who must be convinced
What are prevailing beliefs
What are the structures that make reform possible
55
Reform Decision Model
Value of
Change
Support for
Change
Internal Belief
in Own Skills
Evaluation of
External
Conditions
56
Making Actual Decisions
Support
Low
Expected
Benefits
High
No
Support
Low
Expected
Effort
High
57
Promoting Change
•
" Ultimately, superintendents are dependent upon
teachers, principals, and others in the schools"
"It is not passive compliance but active,
collaborative leadership among educators that
improves schooling"
•
First teachers and principals must be convinced that
the superintendent can take care of the basics
–
–
–
–
•
•
Sufficient funding
Sound facilities
Adequate supplies
Protection from outside forces
Secondly, they will look for more in the
superintendent. Actual change is then possible
Encountering Indifference and Skepticism
–
–
–
Teachers rarely think about the superintendent's priorities
Principal is father figure with superintendent a remote
grandfather
Teachers often believe they would thrive if only the central office
would leave them alone.
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Leadership that
Transforms
• Two types of leadership
– Transactional Leadership - an exchange system
– Transformational Leadership - governed by ideas and
values that are shared
– When transformational leadership is achieved the focus
is changed from maintenance to improvement
• Getting the Basics Right
– Mastering money and community support
– Shielding the schools from the external world
– Channeling dollars to the classroom
• Moving Beyond the Basics (Transformational
Leadership)
– Being seen and getting involved
• ceremonial
• social
• substantive
– Being and Educator first
• symbolism is important
– Giving Respect and Earning Trust
• historic low value placed on teachers cause problems
• Superintendent must praise but point out problems as well
– differentiated praise and acceptance is important
and difficult
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Benefits of
Transformational
Leadership
• Generally new attention to systemwide concerns
and a readiness to rethink priorities and try new
practices
• Getting Teachers to See Beyond the Classroom
–
" When a superintendent gains educators' confidence
and shows confidence in them, they tend to assume a
broader perspective on their work and show more
interest in districtwide initiatives"
• Helping Teachers and Principals Invest Wisely
• Enabling Collaborative Risk Taking
”Superintendents need to first address basic
needs then prove to be attentive, well informed,
responsive educators who respect teachers and
principals and win their confidence by engaging
in meaningful discussions about their schools"
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Topic 6
Political LeadershipOverview
• Political Contexts and Constituents
• Politics of Equity, Equality, Liberty, and
Excellence
61
Political Contexts and
Constituents
•
"Today superintendents can no longer rely
primarily on the authority of their position to
run schools...politics pervades virtually every
aspect of public education"
• Politics has increased due to
– Relatively fixed fund sources but increased demands for
services
– Increased conviction that schools are not doing their job
– Increased diversity of community
– More challenge of authority structures from special
interest groups
• Need for superintendents to be political
– Build coalitions that support schools, staff, and
programs
– Obtain funding
– Solicit views, orchestrate deliberations, and reconcile
differences
– Allocating resources among programs and schools
• Operating in the Political Landscape
– First interpret the local political context
– Reconcile their own leadership style with the political 62
realities
– Establish own power base
Types of Political
Contexts
• Partisan Politics
– Distinct political groups compete over educational issues
– Leadership in this system calls for
• Effectively representing the interests of the partisan
majority
• Lobbying to secure the needed votes
• Serving as mediator in reconciling differences
• Participatory Politics
– Group membership is fluid and alliances are ad hoc
– Leadership in this system calls for
• Inclusionary decision-making
• Devising coherent solutions - not just solutions
• Patronage Politics
– Resources distributed on the basis of personal
connections, special interest groups, race, ethnicity,
neighborhoods, friendships, etc.
– Leadership in this system calls for
• Brokering agreements that advance the interests of all
children
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Working With School
Boards Under Political
Contexts
• Establishing workable boundaries between the
BOE and central office
• Avoiding destructive public conflict
• Framing problems that lead to solutions
• Promoting orderly and constructive decision
making
• Converting political opponents into allies
• Fostering collaboration among adversaries
64
Politics of Equity,
Equality, Liberty, and
Excellence
• Dimensions
–
–
–
–
Equality - all parties get the same
Equity - all parties get in accordance with need
Liberty - maximize opportunities and choice
Excellence - producing winners
• Questions
–
–
–
–
–
–
Difference between superintendent and BOE
Difference between superintendent and community
Difference between BOE and community
Difference among BOE members
What happens to balance when state adds mandates
How is balance re-established after turmoil
65
Equity, Equality, Liberty,
and Excellence Model
Excellence
Liberty
Electives
Cafeteria Curriculum
Comprehensive HS
Honor Roll
Football
Common Textbooks
Allocation of
funds per pupil
Auto Shop
Advanced Biology
EMH
Equality
Equity
Band Boosters
Alternative HS teachers
?
Taxpayers Association
Special Ed Parents
Superintendent
66
Topic 8
Toward a New Definition
of the Superintendency
•
•
"The capacity to bring about change and the
capacity to bring about improvement are two
different matters"
Reasons to Consider Change
–
–
–
–
•
Teaching Mission of the Superintendency
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
Where the organizational environment is no longer stable and
predictable
When student diversity increases
When social and political environment is dynamic, turbulent,
unstable
When expectations of staff no longer match reality of the
situation
Primary mission of the superintendency
Effective superintendents were eager to learn and adapt lessons
so other could understand and find meaning
Effective superintendents modeled teaching and learning
When supt. gained respect from staff for their knowledge and
advice, the staff was ready to entertain other ideas
Supt. helped the staff see how all the parts fit together and were
to work
Supt. won public 67 through their teaching of the community
It was through the teaching and learning experiences that
change occurred in the schools
"This study suggests that superintendents capacity to
lead rests in part on their own moral purpose, their
67
commitment to education, their ability to teach, and
their courage to stand up for what they believe"
Topic 9
Practical ConsiderationsOverview
•
•
•
•
•
•
Employment Process
Board Relations
Working With the Central Office Staff
Union Relationships
Community Relationships
Relations with Building Administrators
68
Employment Process
69
Board Relations
70
Working With the
Central Office Staff
71
Union Relationships
72
Community
Relationships
73
Relations with Building
Administrators
74
Topic 10
Life as a District LeaderOverview
•
•
•
•
•
•
Preparations
The In-between Person
Cultural Expectations for Central Office Staff
Your Private Life
Dealing With Stress and Surviving
Surviving and Prospering in a Fish Bowl
75