EDLD 5333 - Week 5 Discussion Post

My final discussion post for EDLD 5333 - Leadership for Accountability. 

·        What is the value of consensus building in the school improvement process, and how does your school go about the process of consensus building? Share strategies that have been successful at your school or another organization.

I’m going to start this post by beginning with the end in mind. That last little bit of instruction just strikes a bit of a funny chord in me, “…or another organization.” I understand that one of the five weekly readings discussed visiting successful non-education business leaders to assess what they do in the area of consensus building and see where these concepts might fit your needs as a school administrator. But, it said merely another organization. How about Imperial Storm Troopers, for example? These cats were the main ground force, and they also had some Marine capacity, for the Galactic Empire. They served under the Sith Lord and Emperor Palpatine, and of course Darth Vader. These guys dressed alike, moved alike, talked alike, and when they upset Lord Vader, they died alike.

 The organization doesn’t even have to be made up of entities with brains, emotions, and feelings. We could talk about an ant colony; one of nature’s most strong and highly-functioning organizations. Ants are a highly organized superorganism consisting of castes and classes of members. Ants operate as a unified entity with the collective goal of colonial support. Ant society has labor division (queens, drones, workers, and soldiers), communication between individuals (pheromones, sounds, and touch), and complex problem solving skills. These critters parallel human society in many ways, which is amazing.

Alas, I digress. Consensus is paramount to true success in any organization, but in education we must have true consensus to improve our schools. Look at what Jesus was able to accomplish with the help of only 10 other men and a consensus of thought. Only when the consensus of all members waned did things change. School improvement is what we, as administrators, should be all about; supporting teachers and inspiring students.

The process of finding areas to improve is what separates the “haves” from the “have-nots”. Everyone can find reason to celebrate 100% attendance, 95% EOC passing rate, 100% graduation rates, but identification of a fundamental weakness in the vertical strength and rigor of a certain class or curriculum takes collaboration, leadership, and corporate vision. Rather than running away or getting frustrated when things are hard we need to take a lesson from legendary tennis great Billie Jean King. King states that the true transformation in her career came when she learned to regard errors as “feedback.” From there she learned to reflect rather than become frustrated, and in turn she increased in focus and correction. (Elmore, R. and City, E. (2007). The Road to School Improvement. It’s hard, it’s bumpy, and it takes as long as it takes. Harvard Education Letter. May/June 2007, Volume 23, Number 3. Pg. 3.) Synergy is what we are after; 1+1 is greater than 2.

My school goes about consensus building by assigning all staff to at least one committee, as well as assignment to a PLC. Some of the PLCs are content area heavy in composition while others are cross-curricular. We have a strong extracurricular program that is buoyed by incredible parental support. Our campus leadership committee meets three times a year (parents, staff designees, administration, class presidents, and student council representatives) and does a fine job of campus visioneering and planning. The PLCs meet three times a week and data is mined at an alarming rate! We have not had one staff meeting during the semester as everything happens in the small groups where candor, discussion, and consensus is easily attainable. Communication flows down to us and back up to administration and then horizontally across all groups and committees. In the end the goal is student improvement.

I would love to see a PLCC (Professional Learning Community Co-Op) where a member from each PLC could meet with campus administration, parents, students, and concerned community stakeholders once a month to discuss what is going on, to Plus/Delta PLC work, take the pulse of the campus, and generally find out where to go next. Each month a different member of the PLC would represent the group to the PLCC, so that everyone could get involved in the higher functioning processes of the campus.