Interview with Morris Wilson, Director of Information Management; Dave Wilkinson, Phase III Coordinator; and Mary Lynne Jones, Director of Intercultural Programs, Des Moines Public Schools
Although the district's governance structure has not changed - the board of directors, through the superintendent, maintains ultimate responsibility for the district - the central office has reorganized and some central office positions have been eliminated. For example, several administrative responsibilities have been decentralized as part of the "school-based management through shared decision-making" (SBM/SDM) initiative, making the central office "flatter" and more responsive.
SBM/SDM is both a process and a discipline for empowering school-site stakeholders to participate in schoolimprovement planning and implementation activities. The discipline includes both the district's and schools' mission statements, a list of priorities, and definitions of actions to be taken. The process is the collaborative effort from which direction, priorities, and actions are derived. SBM/SDM employs a combination of "top-down" and "bottom-up" management structures and is based on the premise that significant educational change must occur at the school for each student to be successful.
"Although the main impetus for this initiative came from the superintendent, it has received support from many other groups. A committee of the Business/Education Alliance has been exploring restructuring, the State of Iowa has encouraged waivers, and the state Phase III Educational Excellence Program allows funds to be used for comprehensive school transformation."
Through SBM/SDM, schools are encouraged to raise their expectations and focus on quality programs in which all students learn. In turn, the schools have created school-based councils consisting of staff, parent, and community representatives. The council members receive training sessions on team building, consensus building, the change process, creating a vision, and council guidelines. They are provided an extensive data base for their building that presents a broad array of information on students, staff, facilities, achievement, and how their building data compares with previous years and other schools. Through these councils, schools are able to:
The SBM/SDM initiative has both districtwide and pilot components. In September 1991, five schools were selected to participate in an intensive SBM/SDM demonstration project supported by Phase III funds. The project provided 27 additional hours of school improvement facilitator training to the principal and two staff members from each school. These facilitators, in turn, trained the school improvement group at their own school.
The role of the school improvement groups is to provide leadership to their school in developing a comprehensive school improvement plan. Each group meets annually with an accountability team to review their plans and actions. Additional Phase III funds are provided to the schools to implement their plans. These schools, plus three others that have been added for 1992-93, will undergo additional training and a more rigorous school improvement process and will participate in some experimental accountability activities.
The SBM/SDM initiative is appealing for three reasons:
The district has developed many programs and services to support decentralization. For example, the staff development department provides professional development activities for district administrators, including three-day workshops on "Tools for Leadership" and "Effective Schools." Activities for teachers include 15-hour, one-credit staff development classes on such topics as "Effective Schools." The department has also asked schools to identify future training needs.
A School-Based Management Coordinating Council was formed to coordinate activities and communications regarding SBM/SDM throughout the district. The council consists of central office administrators, teacher representatives, building principals, and parent representatives.
A process for granting waivers to district policies and procedures that inhibit school improvement has been developed, adopted by the board of directors, and implemented. This process provides a window for the "bottom-up" to communicate with the "top-down."
Finally, schools have been given additional flexibility and responsibility concerning such things as staffing allocation; budgets for materials, printing, and more; use of Phase III funds at the building level, including the number and type of leadership positions for staff; carrying over Phase III funds and a portion of decentralized funds from year to year; use of staff development funds; and professional leave.
New rules "There has been an over-reaction to change. When one moves into the SBM/SDM environment, one has to learn to play the game with a different set of rules. All of a sudden the buildings are trying to test their wings. They wonder whether they have the right to change time schedules around as well as the bus schedules. There's a lot to be learned about this [new environment] both at the central office and at the buildings."
There are several other major obstacles to decentralization:
Funding "Specific funding for organizational development and staff development activities for both staff and key community stakeholders would be very helpful. The Iowa EducationalExcellence Program, through its Phase III component, provides some funding that can be used with and by the teaching staff."
Other recommendations include:
Posted on April 26, 1995
URL: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/go/93-1des.htm