Making the Right Decisions

A Guide for School Leaders

Charles Joseph, Douglas Fiore

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781596670075
• eBook ISBN: 9781317923145
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book provides a road map for school leaders as they engage in their single most important leadership skill: decision making. With practical examples, it demonstrates how to create a positive school culture, spur school improvement, and make decisions in the context of NCLB.

Chapter 1

Setting the Stage for
the Right Decisions

Consider the Following Scenario . . .

On a sunny May afternoon, a middle school principal learns that one of her veteran Math teachers has recently been diagnosed with late-stage cancer and is facing a grim prognosis. This teacher has been at the school for the last nine years and taught elsewhere in the school district for seven years prior. Throughout his tenure, he has been characterized as one who always “goes the extra mile” for kids. This teacher makes himself available to students and their parents before and after school. He also sponsors the school newspaper, coaches baseball, and supervises most evening dances. In short, this teacher is loved by most people in the community. In addition, his students are among the best performing on state mandated tests, despite the fact that he teaches no “honors” or upper level classes.

The teacher told the principal of his condition just minutes earlier in a very tearful, emotional conversation. Never giving up, the teacher stated that he was going to seek another medical opinion and then possibly consider alternative treatments out of the country as soon as school lets out for the year. If the next medical opinion confirms the diagnosis and if the alternative treatment option is explored and fails, the teacher may only have months left to live. After consoling him and struggling to keep her own emotions in check, the principal vows to do whatever the teacher needs in order to help him through this ordeal. The only thing the teacher requests is that the illness remain a secret.

After the teacher leaves her office, the principal receives a telephone call from the school district’s Director of Personnel. The director informs her that he just interviewed the most incredible Math teacher. The director goes on to explain that this candidate really wants a middle school Math position and is discouraged by the fact that none are available. After a few somewhat inappropriate comments about another member of the middle school Math department, the director laments that this is likely to be a great candidate lost to another district. He comments that it is a shame, especially since great Math teachers have been so difficult to find of late!

There Are Lots and Lots
of Decisions

Practicing school administrators reading this scenario recognize that such situations are not far-fetched. Thankfully, school leaders face few decisions with such emotional relevance, but the fact is that school leaders in contemporary schools face challenging decisions whose layers seem never-ending. One problem seems to lead to ten other problems, each of which leads to ten other problems. Before 9:00 a.m., modern school leaders face several alternating episodes encasing big decisions such as the ones presented in the preceding scenario. Compounding this fact is the notion that all of the decisions are of varying weight. In other words, not all decisions are created equal. Some have far-reaching implications while others can often be reduced to irrelevancy.

A listing of the most important decisions facing the principal in our opening scenario might contain some of the following:

♦	Can she keep this health situation secret, as she has been asked?
♦	Should she advise the teacher of her opinion regarding alternative cancer treatments?
♦	Should she drop a “little hint” to the Director of Personnel in order to avoid losing the strong Math candidate?
♦	Who will sponsor all of the extracurricular activities the current Math teacher does if he is unable to return?

While this brief list does not even begin to scratch the surface of all that needs to be decided upon, it does illustrate the fact that there are a great many decisions to be made. Also, it shows clearly that not all decisions are created equal.

The number of decisions, as well as how intertwined these decisions can become, is not the only hardship facing school leaders. Leaders also need to understand something about how decisions are made in their school and who expects or needs to be involved in the decision-making process. Without a keen understanding of the culture in which they operate, school leaders will have a hard time understanding what the organization and its stakeholders may expect in terms of outcome and involvement. Such cultural knowledge is not to be taken lightly and cannot be arrived at simply. As the next two chapters illustrate, the culture of a school is complex. Learning it, particularly in all of its nuances, can take school leaders a great deal of time. Changing the culture, if it needs changing, can take even longer.

The Environment for Decisions
Can Be So Complex

Schools are dynamic organizations. As such, there is a complex network of relationships and situations that creates an often complex environment. This network is ever changing, as the term dynamic indicates. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (www.m-w.com) defines dynamic as “marked by usually continuous and productive activity or change.” Such a definition when applied to school environments illustrates clearly that understanding the environment in which important decisions must be made is a daunting task.

Throughout the remainder of this book, concrete steps are explained and examples are given which lead readers toward ways in which the dynamic organizations that are their schools can be understood. This understanding will allow readers to best determine how to make decisions in their own school environments. A thorough understanding of the history, the people, the norms, the goals, and the expectations that different school stakeholders have is the essential first step toward making the right decision in the school environment.

I Need a Roadmap

The principal in our opening example surely faces many difficult decisions. Her ability to understand both the environment of her school and of her school district will directly affect the relative ease or difficulty of each decision she faces with regard to the beloved Math teacher. However, recognition of the myriad decisions she faces, even when coupled with a strong understanding of the complexities of her school environment, will not by themselves lead her to the right decisions.

To complete the process, the principal needs some type of roadmap. This is not a roadmap in the literal sense, although such a tool surely would make the right decisions easy to reach. No, the roadmap our principal needs is exhibited in her understanding of decision-making models. If our principal understands that some decisions are best made independently while others need the support and/or scrutiny of others, then she will best be able to proceed. The chapters in the middle of this book provide an important piece of this roadmap.

The decision-making process requires us to understand when to involve others and how to determine which others to involve. Such a process cannot arise as the result of guessing. Instead, school leaders need a formula for determining the merits and potential pitfalls of involving any of the various school stakeholders in their decisions. The remaining chapters of this book provide that formula. It is our intention that, at the conclusion of reading this book, school leaders and potential school leaders alike will have the tools necessary to make the right decisions at the right time with the right people.

What’s Still to Come

The remainder of this book discusses each of the sections in this chapter in greater detail so that all aspects of decision making can be best understood. In the context of contemporary school issues, we have created chapters that will teach readers the reality of school culture and the types of cultures in which decision making flourishes. Our goal as school leaders is always to make the right decision. Trying to do so without a strong understanding of what makes the school tick is a gamble at best. You hope you guess correctly and come out a winner, but the consequences are huge if you do not.

We also compare and contrast individual decision-making models with decision-making models that involve other stakeholders. With site-based decisions continuing to be touted as the necessary mechanism for decisions to be made in schools, we offer some truths about involving others in the decision-making process. We give concrete examples that are designed to help all readers understand who to involve and when to involve them.

Finally, we take a revealing look at the roles that various stakeholder groups can have in school-based decisions. We look at the roles of faculty members and parents, and we take a critical look at empowerment. Saying that people are empowered, as we demonstrate, is not the same thing as truly empowering them.

Meaningful school improvement is not possible without a strong understanding of how to make the right decisions in our schools. In order to have a school community that makes the right decisions, we need to borrow from the model of a functioning family. In the chapters that follow, we examine the roles of many stakeholders, and we frame them in the context of their role in our school family. Knowing what each person wants and needs from school decisions is the first step toward making the right decisions every time. The chapters that follow give readers the tools necessary to do what has not always been easy in our complex work lives. We can, and we will, make the right decisions, and in doing so we will improve our schools.

Chapter 2

Creating a Positive
School Culture

No matter how many decision-making models or theories a school leader learns and internalizes, the ability to make decisions effectively is not something that can be understood out of context. In fact, the context in which school leaders make decisions may be more important than the model followed or the steps taken in reaching a decision. The reason for this is simple and can be best described through the analogy of a beginning teacher.

Suppose a teaching candidate has attended one of the nation’s best colleges or universities and has participated in the best possible teacher preparation program. Suppose this candidate has learned from outstanding college professors and researchers on the cutting edge regarding the best methods for teaching children. Furthermore, suppose this teaching candidate has great natural ability, the “gift of teaching” as some of us like to call it. Suppose this candidate is a natural who also has received the benefit of great training and preparation. Now, the semester in which this candidate is to do her final student teaching has arrived, and the candidate eagerly awaits her placement in Ms. Montague’s third grade classroom. In fact, coincidental as it may be, this teaching candidate’s favorite grade, the one she is most excited about teaching in, is third grade. Can we assume, merely because of her exceptional training and natural ability, that this particular teaching candidate will have a rewarding student teaching experience?

While the experience surely may be rewarding, the answer to the above question is “No.” We cannot and should not assume a rewarding student teaching experience just because of superior training and natural ability. The reason that such an assumption is ill-advised lies in the variable known as school culture. The culture of a school, or of the classroom for that matter, has a tremendous impact on everything that takes place within its walls.

What Is School Culture?

School culture is the system of beliefs, values, norms, and expectations that governs the feelings and subsequent behaviors of all school constituents (Fiore, 2001). Depending on a variety of factors, school cultures can become positive, negative, or something in between. When they are positive, and volumes of research and common practice confirm this, then positive connections are created among and between student, staff, parents, and other stakeholders, and great things are known to happen in schools. Schools with positive cultures experience far greater levels of staff contentment and higher morale, consistently positive comments from parents and other community members, a sense of collegiality that verifies the old adage of the whole being greater than the sum of all its parts, and an increase in student achievement. These schools are powerful institutions that radiate positive energy. The only way to understand the power of a positive culture is to experience it. When you do, as we have had the fortune to do on many occasions, then you know you have experienced education as it ought to be. Students learn and enjoy learning, teachers teach and enjoy teaching, principals lead and enjoy leading, and parents support and enjoy supporting.

There are ten specific, particular behaviors that school leaders ought to engage in if their goal is to create the most positive culture possible in their school. Originally presented in Creating Connections: How Leaders Enhance School Culture (Fiore, 2001), these behaviors are easy to understand and even easier to emulate. They are presented here as a means by which to form the foundation for decision making. Even the greatest models for decision making cannot be implemented if the school culture is not positive and supporting. When we get back to the discussion of our eager, well-prepared teaching candidate as she embarks on her student teaching exp...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 SETTING THE STAGE FOR THE RIGHT DECISIONS
• 2 CREATING A POSITIVE SCHOOL CULTURE
• 3 CULTURE, CLIMATE, AND DECISION MAKING
• 4 A MODEL FOR INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS
• 5 WHEN TWO (OR MORE) HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
• 6 WHO ARE SOME OF THESE STAKEHOLDERS?
• 7 RATIONALITY IN DECISION MAKING
• 8 THE IMPORTANCE OF FEELING EMPOWERED AND THE POWER TO EMPOWER
• 9 FACULTY BUY-IN: APPROPRIATELY USING TEACHER LEADERS
• 10 PARENT PARTICIPATION: GAINING SUPPORT FOR DECISIONS
• 11 DECISIONS AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
• 12 DECISIONS AND SCHOOL BUREAUCRACIES
• 13 IN SUMMARY: WE ARE FAMILY
• REFERENCES