Management and Leadership DIscussion
For decades, school management processes have been popular among schools around the nation. School management processes put more responsibility on the local teacher and administrator basis in order to influence more positive results. The success of student learning depends heavily on “community participation, decentralization or teacher empowerment” (Wohlstetter & Mohrmon, 1994). This allows principals to step up and take a managerial approach to implementing individual and strategies unique to the needs of their schools. Ultimately, there are then variations within leadership processes. Thus, “some school districts dictate that structure, as in San Diego; others leave it up to the schools themselves, but hold the principal accountable for ensuring that all parties are given the opportunity to contribute, such as in Prince William County” (Wohlstetter & Mohrmon, 1994). The principal is thus a facilitator of change and an innovator that works to motivate individual teachers and administrators through motivational techniques.
On the other hand, there is accountability practice. This is a method which is based more on the defined level of accountability created by larger school districts. According to the research, “as state governments and local school districts define standards and mobilize accountability mechanisms, while leaving schools to figure out how best to reach these standards, the mediating role of school leaders becomes increasingly salient” (Spillane et al., 2013). Ultimately, the standards are much more defined than seen in a school management approach, but the necessary means for reaching those standards can have their own unique variations based on the unique needs of the school.
Question 2
In this volatile environment of change, schools are witnessing the restructuring of standardized testing and curriculum through . School districts and campuses now have to rework how they develop and execute curriculum goals in order to stay competitive within national statistics and provide best for the of each child. The primary issue faced in my current school is the implementation process of switching to Common Core strategies and standards.
Total Quality Management (TQM) provides methods for achieving that goal in a practical manner. According to the research, “TQM looks at the overall quality measures used by a company including managing quality design and development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality assurance” (Murray, 2012). Within TQM, there is a large emphasis on creating and enforcing quality control methods. This will prove an important method to stay evaluating student achievement and performance in order to ensure that there is the best learning environment for all students. This can be achieved through practice standardized testing as well as curriculum geared towards teaching test taking skills based on the foundation of new national strategies. However, “TQM takes into account all at all levels and involving all company employees” (Murray, 2012). Ultimately, this would mean enforcing quality control methods on teachers and administrators as well. Thus, it would be crucial to include teacher performance tests and administrative quality control measures as well.
References
Murray, Martin. (2012). Total Quality Management. Manufacturing. Web. http://logistics.about.a/TQM.htm
Spillane, James P., Diamond, John B., Burch, Patricia, Hallett, Tim, Jita, Loyiso, & Zoltners, Jennifer. (2013). Managing in the middle: School leaders and the enactment of accountability policy. Northwestern University. Web. http://www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/mngingmiddleSPIDIABUR.pdf
Wohlstetter, Priscilla & Mohrman, Susan A. (1994). : Promise and process. Issues and Research in Educational Finance. Web. http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/CPRE/fb5sbm.html
