7289 research outputs found
Sort by
Practical Measurement for Strategic Growth in an International School District
Get PDFThe accountability era of the past three decades failed to produce significant educational change, yet the standardized measures of student performance in primarily cognitive domains that epitomized that era continue to consume a disparate amount of energy and influence a disproportionate degree of decision-making in education organizations. That strategic-growth-crippling perseveration on standardized assessments is compounded by a general lack of change-process training, understanding and purposeful use in education contexts, and particularly exacerbated by the inability of education organizations to institutionalize effective innovations. The purpose of this study was to understand how a school district’s leadership team might move beyond a perseveration on parochial standardized assessments to innovate and employ a range of practical measures designed to bolster the district’s strategic improvement and embed operational innovations across the organization through a comprehensive change process. Acting from outside the district as a consultant, the researcher used critical education theory to inform a pragmatic-transformative worldview and appreciative-inquiry approach to that proposed change as well as emphasize the strengths and limits of the district leadership’s application of transformational leadership for organizational improvement. To provide an extensive example of a practical measurement tool, the Change Path Model (Cawsey, Deszca, & Ingols, 2016) is compared to the school district’s accreditation-informed change process; through that practical assessment, strengths of the district’s change process are appreciated and built upon while a lack of straightforward measures for successful institutionalization of innovations within that change process is emphasized and subsequently resolved by the description of novel organizational measures that could be used by the district’s leadership team to positively inform the district’s strategic growth. The researcher concluded that the innovation and institutionalization of a broad range of practical, context-specific improvement measures should accelerate a school district’s strategic growth. The limits of using a pragmatic, structural-functionalist approach for social-justice change are acknowledged, and the need for more research into the use of a purely transformative approach to change is considered
The Internationalization of the Student Body at Oceans College, Canada – An Appreciative Inquiry and Shared Leadership Approach to Change
Get PDFThis Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) addresses a problem of practice (PoP) at Oceans College (a pseudonym), a multilocation, panprovincial community college. Oceans College currently focuses on recruiting, admitting, and graduating domestic, in-province students. The number of international students, however, is growing. Currently there are no formal processes at the College for international students, unlike at the other postsecondary institutions in the province which actively recruit and enroll international students. The PoP is the lack of readiness at Oceans College to cope with the significant enrollment of international students. Different leadership theories were examined to develop this OIP, and appreciative inquiry (AI) and shared leadership were chosen as frameworks. They both take a positive approach, looking for the best in people. They both fit the matrix organization of Oceans College. Three key tenets used in this OIP are that Oceans College is doing many things well, that understanding the culture of the College is key, and that communication is core to the success of this OIP. The conceptual model I developed is the 4 C’s of Change—context, culture, clarity, and communication. Using this conceptual model, AI, and shared leadership, along with cultural theory, I developed an implementation plan that will allow Oceans College to internationalize the student body over a period of several years. Assessment and evaluation plans were also developed, as was a detailed plan to communicate the change to all stakeholders. The conjunction of theory, concepts, and experience has created an OIP that not only solves the PoP, but also keeps in mind what is already being done well and what would complement the college culture.
Keywords: organizational improvement plan, appreciative inquiry, shared leadership, internationalization, chang
Case 7 : Going Beyond Bike Racks and Pedestrian Crossovers: Achieving Health Equity in School Travel Planning
Get PDFThe Elgin-St. Thomas, London-Middlesex, and Oxford Active and Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) Steering Committee have established a School Travel Planning Equity Working Group. The goal of this group is to use the Government of Ontario’s Health Equity Impact Assessment tool to evaluate current inequities in school travel planning programming – a community-based approach to addressing barriers to and facilitators of walking and wheeling to and from school – by identifying relevant populations, potential impacts, and mitigation, monitoring, and dissemination strategies (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2018). The goal of the case is to provide readers with the opportunity to evaluate the inequities in current school travel planning by conducting a Health Equity Impact Assessment
