Case Study #3 Management of the
organization
ISLLC Standard 3
A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes
the success of all students by ensuring
management of the organization, operations, and resources for a safe,
efficient, and effective learning environment.
Key Questions:
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how the school building level administrator manages the organization of their school.
Description and Explanation of the Situation
Clementine Middle School has been classified as needs improvement for the last five years. During this time numerous areas of improvement have been noted. One of the areas for improvement is in conflict resolution. Recently, the school went through a major reorganization according to the state mandated restructuring plan. Along with this restructuring, the school had to offer school choice. Approximately 400 students took advantage of the offer. The school went from having over 1100 students to fewer than 800. This caused a major redevelopment of assets. Many teachers were reassigned to other schools and to other teams within Clementine. These changes occurred three weeks into the school year. Students were already getting used to their current teachers and schedules. The grade level that was hit the hardest with the changes was 6th grade.
New teams were created in the 6th and 7th grade. This meant that the team leaders had to recreate student schedules. Conflict, strife and depression were running rampant in the school. Teachers didn’t know if they were going to be next to be transferred. Special education students were being shuffled and placed in incorrect classes. Life was difficult for a while at Clementine. The administrative team recognized the low morale and chose to change it. They began holding weekly grade level meetings to discuss all the changes and let all stakeholders in on the decision making. Once the principal, Sally, expressed her own displeasure at the way the central office was handling the transition, teachers began to rally. Teachers began pitching in and helping one another adjust and settle in to their new assignments. We all began to feel that the worst was over.
Two weeks later, Sally and her AP’s were directed to double check the highly qualified status of all educators assigned to Clementine. Errors were found in the placement of some teachers. Reorganization had to take place in order for the school to remain 100% highly qualified. Sally did not want to send letters home to parents detailing why their child’s teacher was not considered highly qualified. In some cases, the teacher was highly qualified in one subject but was having to teach two different subjects one of which was not on the teaching certificate. The teachers were all called into a faculty meeting on a Friday afternoon and notified as to who was moving. The AP’s for Clementine, in Sally’s absence, read the team assignments and left out certain people. One of which was an 8th grade teacher named Kitty. The teacher was visibility disturbed and upset. She liked her current placement as did the team she worked with. The AP’s called the teachers that were left off the list to the office and announced where the teachers would be moving. This was a very contentious meeting. The teachers were told they had to move on Saturday and be ready to teach in their new assignment on Monday. Sally called each teacher involved and explained why the moves had to take place and that she wanted it done quickly so as not to disrupt the learning environment more than it already was. Kitty reluctantly moved to her new room on Saturday and began her preparations to meet her new students. Monday morning, Sally called Kitty in her office to tell her that an error in judgment had been made. Kitty was told to move back to her old room. Kitty no longer trusts the administrative staff. She has become a huge “naysayer” at the school.
Another area of reorganization occurred after nine weeks into the school year! The special education department lost a teaching slot and several teachers were found to be out of their certificated area. Again, Sally called a Friday afternoon staff meeting of the special education teachers to announce their new teaching positions.
Answers to the
Questions:
Sally, the principal at Clementine Middle School tried to meet with the teachers and staff frequently during the reorganization. She explained that in some cases the human resources had to be managed differently due to requirements made at the central office. She took the time to listen to each teachers concern. Listening to teachers enabled the staff to rally around all the chaos. Sally showed trust in her AP’s to handle a risky move in announcing yet another reorganization. She wanted to ensure that all of the staff was highly-qualified to teach their assigned subject.
Sally needed to present all decisions about changes herself. She needed to take ownership of the issue and then work with her staff for a resolution. Sally needs additional support in conflict resolution.
Clementine needs to begin monitoring the organizational system before the school year begins. A lot of the highly qualified issues should have been caught earlier. The school is taking active steps to remain in the highly qualified arena but, to what expense? The learning environment of many students has been disrupted. Teachers are beginning to be fearful of staff meetings. Teachers and staff should have been kept informed through the entire process. Staff needed to be invited in on the discussions in reference to change. The operational procedures that were designed to maximize opportunities for successful learning have been deviated from.
The school administrator attempted to involve some stakeholders. The staff should have all been involved in the decisions to move teachers around to maximize highly qualified positions. Parents and students were not involved at all. These people are also stakeholders at Clementine Middle School.
Administrators are working toward stakeholders being involved in management processes by inviting a parent and student representative to join the school leadership team. The parent and student have not been invited as of yet. Unfortunately, effective communication skills are lacking at this particular school.
This case study shows the school administrator as being in the development stage. The administrator does give evidence that she understands the importance of managing conflict. Sally instituted meetings among the staff to explain her reasoning behind decisions. She used active listening when working with teachers and staff. The school administrator is further aware of the importance of monitoring and modifying the organizational system. Unfortunately, the timing of when the monitoring began was problematic. Monitoring should be ongoing with modifications made to improve the structure not just because you “have to”. Further evidence that the administrator is in the development stage is that she recognizes that parents and students should be included in decisions. She wants to invite a parent and a student representative to join the leadership team. Sally has not followed through on her recommendation of adding these stakeholders to the team as of yet.