A New Paradigm for Educational Reform: Implementing Organizational Change for 21st Century Schools

EDUL 7043 Organizational Development and Change in Education

Loretta A. Terry

PhD Student in Educational Leadership

College of Education

Prairie View A & M University

November 12, 2009

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD, Professor

PhD Program in Educational Leadership

Prairie View A& M University

Member of the Texas A &M University System

Visiting Lecturer (2005)

Oxford Round Table

University of Oxford, Oxford, England

Distinguished Alumnus (2004)

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A New Paradigm for Educational Reform: Implementing Organizational Change for 21st Century Schools

Abstract

The traditional top-down approach to educational change ignores innovate methodology used to implement the complex change concept. Twenty first century school leaders must become the skilled change agents pushing for change around them and intersecting with other like mined individuals and groups to form the critical mass necessary to bring about continuous improvement (Fullan, 1993, 2001). Instead of engaging experts to implement change strategies at their schools, twenty first century school leaders must become the expert change agents.

Introduction

“If it‘s not broken, why fix it?” This old adage reflective of people with fear of the

unknown is simply insufficient to address the pressing need to renovate, innovate, and reform

the American approach to educating students in the twenty-first century. Elevating schools to

exemplary levels of academic performance is the prevailing discussion that pervades educational

conferences, professional development sessions, and pedagogic institution’s dialogue. The

proficiency of educational leaders in understanding the dynamics of organizational development

and change within school systems, school districts and schools can significantly impact the

academic success of all students. Inherent in leadership is the ability to accomplish significant

change within an organization that will impact its central core and mission positively.

Do American schools need education reform to produce successful students prepared to

compete in our global society? This is a question that has continued to emerge since the

beginning of the study of educational change and large scale reform that started in earnest in the

sixties (Fullan1993, 2001). Schools are plagued with a myriad of issues that originate from

social, economic, the achievement gap, lack of parent involvement, governmental policy

interveners and escalating violence that are consuming the attentiveness and progress of teachers

and students. Current data from a 2009 report presenting the national dropout rate of students

attending schools in the United States recorded that three and one-half of every 100 students

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enrolled in public or private high schools in the later part of 2006- left school before 2007

(Cataldi, Laird, KawalRamani, 2009). The same report documented that approximately 3.3

million 16-24 year –olds in 2007 who were not enrolled in high school and had not earned a high

school diploma or alternative credential (Cataldi et al., 2009). This alarming data amplifies the

reality that reform in the American education system is imperative and needs to embrace a new

paradigm that will avail educators to become skilled agents of change instead of victims of

change (Fullan, 1993). There is also disparity in earning capacity of dropouts and high school

graduates that points to the need for education reform.

Additionally, as the evolving era of technology empowers and magnetizes children at

young ages, schools are competing with technology to maintain an academic focus in

classrooms. Computer games, broadband internet, iPods, blue-ray, Skype, Tweeter, text

messaging, cellular phones and other technical devices captivate the attention of the students

more quickly than the curriculum agenda and high stakes test practices. Students who have

access to technology at home are often more advanced in some subject areas than teachers

leading to off task behavior and lack of motivation. Students who do not have additional access

to technology are often left behind their peers and become disinterested, at-risk of failure or

dropping out of school. In order to compete with technology, organizational change must shift

the inevitable forces of change. Fullan (1993) developed eight basic lessons of change that work

in concert as a set to overhaul the systematic complexities and tradition complexity of the

change a new paradigm. The new paradigm will require education reformers to approach change

implementation from the perspective of building a learning organization (Senge, 2006) to

harness understanding and develop the change process.

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to discuss the implementation of Fullan’s eight lessons of

change in an educational organization. Change is dynamic, vigorous, brisk, futuristic,

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revolutionary and it has the power to yield new outcomes if embraced as a non-linear system of

operation. Only principals who are equipped to handle a complex, rapidly changing environment

can implement the reforms that lead to sustained improvement in student achievement

Fullan, 2002). Each of Fullan’s eight lessons of change is interconnected and benefits from the

wisdom of the other seven (Fullan, 1993). Diagram I depicts the lessons of change connections.

Diagram I. Fullan’s Change Education Reform Model

Lesson I: You Can’t Mandate What Matters (The more complex the change the less you can force it.)

20th Century Federal Mandates

Fullan’s (1993) first lesson in the educational change model asserts “You can’t mandate

what matters” is the polar opposite of the systemic change that has occurred in the United

States’ educational system. Mandates designed by the federal government have been the

Lesson ICan't Mandate what

matters.Lesson II Change is a journey

not a blueprint

Lesson III Problems are our

friends

Lesson IV Vision and Strategic Planning

Come Later

Lesson V Individualism and

Colectivism Must have Equal Power

Lesson VI Neither Centralization or Decentralization Works

Lesson VII Connection with the Wider

Environment is Critical

Lesson VIII Every person is a change agent

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driving force behind education reform. In this advanced era of multimedia technology it is very

difficult to comprehend that education reform measures implemented in the past have not

worked as the silver bullet to close the achievement gap. One of America’s abiding concerns

yesterday and today is the achievement gap between rich and poor, black and white, and students

are dropping out of school at unprecedented rates and failing high stakes tests necessary to

graduate from high school (Rothstein, Jacobensen & Wilder, 2008).

As history unfolded in the United States during the era of the civil rights movement of the

1960’s, the educational paradigm changed. Government leaders realized that education

was important for every child, not just for the elite. President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the

reform legislation to declare the “War on Poverty,” and established the federal legislation

with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), (Laanan & Cox, 2006).

Nationally, high schools are under extreme demands to address the rising drop-out rate by

increasing graduation rate. The number of students labeled at-risk of failure and dropping out

of high school has escalated. According to the most current estimates in 2007, 3.3 million 16-24

year olders had not completed high school (Cataldi et al., 2007).

In the 1980’s and1990’s, the national report titled “A nation at Risk” forecasted the urgency

of education reform that continues to be evident today. The report called attention to the need to

meet the needs of key groups of students such as the gifted and talented, the socio-economically

disadvantaged, minority students and disabled students (Blake, 2008). Children who have failed

the assessments requirements were minority students from lower socio-economic status homes

( Blake, 2008). Ernie Duncan, the United States Secretary of Education, in a recent report,

stated that “reforming public education it is not just a moral obligation, it is absolutely an

economic imperative and the foundation of a strong society” (Mc Quaid, 2009).

21st Century Federal Mandates

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation enacted under United States President George

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W. Bush is a primary example of complex mandated change. The premise of the enactment was

to implement assessment and accountability standards to benefit the lowest performing students

suffering from “bigotry of low expectations” by promoting high standards of accountability for

all students (McBeath, Reyes & Ehrlander, 2008). The NCLB is the reauthorization of the

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (Rothstein,et al., 2008). There are many

criticisms pertaining to all sections the adoption of NCLB that began at its inception and

continue to persist today. The NCLB initiative came with much complexity. Education leaders

must be prepared for the complexities that accompany legislative mandates and proceed from a

position of understanding change themselves to facilitate change in their organizations.

The initial step that twenty first century educational leaders should adhere to in order to

implement change under Fullan’s (1992) Lesson I is to understand the meaning of the mandated

change within the context of improvement of student learning. Developing a plan of action to

facilitate the change is closely linked formalized leadership, command and control strategies

(Fullan, 2006). Once the leader understands the mandated reform, he/she should explicate the

reform to the school community openly and honestly to began mobilizing faculty and staff to

establish a commitment to higher standards of performance (Fullan, 2002).

To mobilize teachers, educational leaders should use new strategies for informing them of the

changes. Next, teachers should be invited into a discourse and dialogue to express their

perspectives of how mandates could be implemented in their classrooms. Empowerment an

effective strategy to attain the greatest teacher mobilization results. Some community schools

utilize the site-based management wherein teachers are given the autonomy to participate in

shared decision by creating an opportunity for their voices to be heard. Teachers are on the front

line with the students, teaching, guiding, providing practice, re-teaching and formulating

strategies to strengthen the weakest students. For change to achieve effective meaning in

classrooms, regarding teachers as professionals in the learning environment is a priority. In a

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professional teaching and learning environment school administrators must equitable use of

power and authority among all staff. Shared decision making and responsibility are key

ingredients in creating an atmosphere for change and program improvement (Lamperes, 2005).

Lesson II: Change is a Journey, Not a Blueprint (Change is non-linear, loaded with uncertainty, and sometimes perverse.)

Fullan (1993) advances the second lesson of change with the major argument that change is a

journey, non-linear and loaded with uncertainty. Mason (2008) points out that traditional

managers handle uncertainty by resisting change or by using predictions to prepare for the future.

It is of paramount importance that the complexity of change be understood in order for

educational leaders to know the appropriate respond to change.

Analyzing change through the lens of chaos and complexity theories recognizes that change

is part of an educational system that impacts other systems. When analyzing chaos in an

organization, many researchers believe that human being have a natural ability to act at the edge

of chaos, creating the chaos needed to cope with complex/turbulent environments (Mason,

2008). Although chaos appears to be non-descriptive of school organizations, it is a profound

description. Systems thinking is a conceptual framework, a body of knowledge and tools that

have been developed over the last fifty years, to make the full patterns clearer, and to help us see

how to change them effectively (Senge, 2006). Most systems thinking school leaders

contemplate relationships, human social systems and how one part of a system affects the other

parts to achieve the results. For example, a high school principal may determine that initiating

professional learning communities (PLC) will have an overriding affect on student performance

and teacher collaboration, thereby establishing relationships among teachers to produce and

collectively formulate strategies to improve student performance. The leader analyzes feedback

from the changes to assess how student performance will affect the high stakes test scores and

how the high stakes test scores affect the accountability rating of the school. Fullan offers a

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systems thinking idea for effective leaders:

“ If more and more leaders become systems thinkers, they will gravitate toward strategies that alter people’s system-related experiences; that is, they will alter

people’s mental awareness of the system as a whole, thereby contributing to altering the system itself.” Considering the interplay between identity, information, and relationships in your setting will yield deeper sensitivities to the interconnections that are sometimes visible and invisible. Although not always apparent, these underlying threads contribute significantly to any leader’s effectiveness” (as cited in, Klimie, Ritzenhein & Sullivan, 2008).

The second step in the twenty first century change process, is for leader to become system

thinkers, Leaders can achieve system thinking by seeing a framework of wholes instead of

separate parts, seeing interrelationships instead of disconnection (Senge, 2006).

Lessons III: Problems are Our Friends (Problems are inevitable, but the good news is that you can’t learn or

be successful without them.)

Problems are not uncommon for implementing educational change. The issue with problems

in analyzing education change is how do school leaders create opportunities from problems.

According to Fullan (1993) the third lesson of change is premised on regarding problems as

friends. Mason (2008) asserts that the key issues to managing complex and turbulent

environments is to accept the unpredictable nature of systems, accept that they cannot be

centrally controlled and accept that change is an inevitable occurrence that provides

opportunities. Essential to the growth of educational leaders is the ability to manage of conflict

and problem solving under extreme pressurized conditions.

One of the biggest problems plaguing school reform is the absence of good data tracking the

performance of students, teachers and schools over time (McQuaid, 2009). After reviewing the

results of a long term study that revealed that only 3% of African Americans and Hispanic

Americans male students who graduated from Chicago’s schools never attained a bachelor’s

degree, Arnie Duncan, Secretary of the United States Department of Education began to focus

on mentoring and intervention at the high schools (McQuiad, 2008). Out of the revelation of

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these appalling statistics about minority male students, clearly a problem and the solution

emerged. Student data contributes to improving education decision-making. Data for

continuous improvement alerts educators as to what is working and what should be reorganized.

Educational leader of the twenty-first century must approach problems with analytic positive

solution thinking. Often times, a solution lies within the problem.

Lesson IV: Vision and Strategic Planning Come After (Premature visions and planning can blind.)

Fullan (1993), poses the critical question of how can vision be shaped? The answer to this

question is one that emerges as the implementation of change progresses in the organization.

Some organizations embrace the leader’s vision or the vision of a selected group of people. This

strategy does not produce commitment to the vision but instead generates compliance

Fullan, 1993). Shared vision is vital for every organization, to accept ownership of the vision

cannot be achieved in advance of learning something new (Fullan, 1993, p. 30). Beach (2006)

clarifies what vision is not because many organizations confuse the vision and mission or

presume that the mission statement is the vision of the learning organization because it provides

the energy and focus for learning (Fullan, 1993).

The process of how the organization arrived at the vision is called into question. This process

is tense, time consuming and complex. To focus the vision of the organization to reflect

ownership by the group, it should be determined whether or not the vision will shape or reshape

the goals of the organization within the context of change. In other words the group must attain

vision agreement. Beach (2006) stated that vision has four elements: goals, priorities,

requirements and implications. These elements are not incorporated in the vision statement but

rather are expounded in plans derived from the vision (Beach, 2006, p. 56). This is a key point of

clarification in building vision that needs underscoring that plans come after vision. Twenty first

leaders must be equipped to build vision. Good vision will come after, meaning that “good

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vision is going to spontaneously arise from within an organization, survive the political gauntlet,

and achieve the consensus that is necessary for it to become the rallying point” (Beach, 2006 p.

56).

Lesson V: Individualism and Collectivism Must Have Equal Power (There are no one-sided solution and groupthink.)

Twenty-first century leaders must have the ability to balance individualism and collectivism.

Paradoxes provide the seeds for learning under conditions dynamic complexity (Fullan, 1993).

Allowing teachers to hold fast to their individualism at the same time encourage them to

collaborate within groups where sharing is the norm is a paradox of major proportions.

Teachers who become part of school’s learning organization need to feel that they are valued and

that their contribution will make a difference.

Leaders must have the ability to draw the line of balance by encouraging collaboration with

group, at the same time incorporating nurturing, encouraging creativity and innovation of the

individual. Groups are filled with people who are diverse with individual ideologies totally

different from the consensus. Learning organizations are based on the premise that everyone is

learning from each other, under change complexity theory (Fullan, 1993) people learn from

others with differing perspectives. An effective organization requires new norms of collegiality.

Learning organizations must have healthy respect for some degree of diversity and individualism

as well as for group activity and group effectiveness (Fullan, 2006). The twenty first century

leader must know how to attain the best from individuals and the group collectively.

Lesson VI: Neither Centralization or Decentralization Works (Both top-down and bottom-up strategies are necessary.)

Fullan (1993) argues in lesson six that control at the top as many reform-minded leaders have

formed their organization, is an illusion. Senge submits the contentions that:

While traditional organizations require management systems that control people’s behavior, learning organizations invest in improving the quality of thinking, the capacity for reflection and tem learning, and the ability to develop shared

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visions and shared understanding of complex business issues. It is these capacities that will allow learning organizations to be both more locally controlled and more well coordinated that their hierarchical predecessors (as cited in Fullan, p. 37).

Leaders of the twenty first century should focus their energies on improvement of the practice.

Improving the practice pertains to leaders descending from their ivory towers and rolling up

their sleeves to investigate what is working, what needs improvement in the organization and

enlisting ideals and support of faculty and staff to discover solutions. Improvement cannot be

judged solely by periodic assessment of teaching and learning during a forty-five minute

period. Improvement of the practice of teaching and learning is continuous. One form of

leadership involving change, innovation and improvement of the practice from a decentralized

position is based on the characteristics of generative leadership. Klimek et al. (2008) collectively

expound on the generative leader to shape the future of schools today with their definition:

Generative leadership is an approach to leading within organizations—and organization, from family to school or large corporation that recognizes and taps the collective intelligence and energy within an organization to generate productive growth and effective solutions. We see generative leadership as a fusion of three foundational elements: generativity, living systems principles, and brain/mind science. In practice, these foundational elements are woven together inseparably (p. 2).

In sum, generative leaders interact with the living system stimulating its intrinsic

intelligence creativity, and innovation as the cornerstones of effective school culture ( Klimek,

et al., 2008). The commonality of Fullan (1993, Senge (2006) and Klimek et al. (2008) is

systems philosophy. Twenty first century leaders are charged with responsibility of utilizing

and decentralized management of schools from the systems perspective by viewing all parts as

interrelated and needed to improve the organization.

Lesson VII: Connection with the Wider Environment is Critical (The best organizations learn externally as well as internally.)

Schools must be collaborative internally, but they also must be linked to the outside (Fullan,

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2006). Internally, teachers should look for opportunities to collaborate with other teachers to

develop a learning society by working with students and parents (Fullan, 1993). Leaders who

are change agents advocate the school becoming the hub of teacher collaboration. For schools to

became a center of inquiry and for professional community to develop, collaborative culture that

supports deep change need to be created (Sergiovanni, 1998).

Schools should connect with the wider external environment to establish a connectedness for

the benefit of student learning. Within the external community of most schools are a myriad of

resources and resourceful people. The proficiency of twenty- first century educational leaders in

understanding the dynamics of the political power structures and power people within their

school communities can significantly impact the academic success of all students. Sanders noted

that the schools are overwhelmed by the social and emotional needs of children, need additional

resources to successfully educate all students and both human and material resources are housed

in students’ communities (as cited in Epstein and Associates, 2009).

Commencing with the government and extending to the neighborhood community

meetings, there are people who have influence, the power to change and support improvements

of communities and schools. To galvanize power people to use their power and influence to

provide resources, solutions to school issues there must be an understanding of (a) research to

identify power people are (b) discovery of steps to win their support (c) develop strategies to

work through the bureaucratic power structures to establish partnerships (d) establish forums or

activities to connect power people with the schools or community organizations and

(e) persistent collaboration to keep the importance issue in plain view. “Community

collaborations can be developed to enhance school’s curricula, identify and disseminate

information about community resources, and support community development efforts” (Epstein,

2009 p. 32). Twenty first education leaders must become knowledgeable about the external

environment surrounding their schools and establish relationship with external people of power

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and influence for the benefit of their schools and students.

Lesson VIII: Every Person is Change Agent (Change is too important to leave to the experts.)

The snapshot of the twenty first century America reflects changing demographics that is

reflected in students who are culturally, linguistically, ethnically, and economically diverse.

Some may view this change as challenge rather than an opportunity. Educational leaders are

change agents who are prepared to build capacity in others. Building capacity means policy,

strategy, or action taken that increases the collective efficacy of a group to improve student

learning through knowledge, enhanced resources, and greater motivation on the part of people

working individually and together (Fullan, 2006).

Educators as change agents must change their individual way of thinking and doing

things to accomplish the desired result of successful schools. Radical change often involves a

collective, internal, and emergent process of learning and sense of a different way of thinking

and doing what matters. Radical, revolutionary change emerges when leaders empower teachers

to develop professionally and collaboratively. Formal leadership generated by a system are

operating under the old paradigm (Fullan, 1993). The traditional top-down approach to

educational change ignores innovate methodology used to implement the complex change

concept. Twenty first century school leaders must become the skilled change agents

to pushing for change around them and intersecting with other like mined individual and groups

to form the critical mass necessary to bring about continuous improvement (Fullan, 1993, 2001).

Instead of engaging experts to and implement change strategies at schools, twenty first century

school leaders must become the expert change agents at their schools engaging the school

community in continuous improvement. The new era of change requires a new paradigm for

twenty first century leaders to follow as the diagram in Figure II illustrates the relationship of all

components to the central idea-- the new paradigm of change consisting of (a) building a

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learning community that understands the meaning of change, (b) sharing decision making

(c) implementing systems thinking, (d) approaching problems from solutions thinking,

(e) building vision from within the organization (f) balancing individualism and collectivism, (g)

connecting the external community with the school, and (h) becoming the school expert change

agent with empowerment of others.

Figure II. New Paradigm of Change for 21st Century Leadership

Concluding Remarks

The irony of implementation of Fullan’s eight basic lessons of change is that

realistically change should not be forced but the forces of change propel opponents to reach for a

new way without losing the old way. Darling-Hammond eloquently summarizes the quest 21st

change forces:

“I argue that reforms that rely on the transformative power of individuals to rethink their practice and resign their institutions can only be

accomplished by investing in individual and organizational learning- in the human capital of the educational enterprise: the knowledge, skills, and

New Paradigm for Leading Change in

the Twenty-First Century

Build a Learning Community &

Understand the Meaning of Change

Shared Decision Making

Systems Thinking

Solution Thinking

Vision from within the

OrganizationBalance of

Individualism & Collectivism

External Community Connection

Expert Change Leading &

Empowering Others

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dispositions of teachers and administrators, s well as parents and community members (Darling, 1998 p. 675)

There are opponents to change in every organization who want things to remain the same. To

move an organization to the forefront of success, the ideology of the keeping things the same

must be abandoned. Systems thinking and viewing organizations from within and the

interconnectedness of all components as comprising the whole will have overreaching impact.

References

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Cataldi, E. F., Laird, J., and KewalRamani, A. (2009). High School Dropout and Completion National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Rates in the United States: 2007 (NCES 2009-064), Washington, DC. Retrieved from: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009064

Darling-Hammond, L. (1998). Policy and change: Getting beyond bureaucracy. The International Handbook of Change: Part One. Kulwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands.

Epstein, J. (2009). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action.

(3rd ed.), California: Corwin Press.

Fullan, M. (1993) Change forces. The Falmer Press, London.

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Sergiovanni, T. J. (1998) Organization, market and community as strategies for change: What works best for the deep changes in schools. The International Handbook of Change: Part One, Kulwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands.