September 27, 2000
Contributed Commentary on
Volume 8 Number 2: America Y2K: The Obsolescence of Educational
Reforms,
Sherman Dorn
Patrick P. Persichilli
University of Michigan
I believe
that
Sherman Dorn's article, America Y2K: The Obsolescence of
Educational
Reforms, illustrated some significant barriers to
successful
education reform. I agree that political rhetoric, which
frequently
determines policy agendas and timelines, definitely impedes
progress
toward real reform. Too often policymakers and legislators
set lofty,
unattainable goals at the expense of quality programs and
timely
delivery.
The
discussion
of solid organizational goal changes is key to progress in
the education
reform debate. Ignoring the "fishbowl of publicity" model of
public
administration, there is much to be learned from private
sector
management of organizational change issues. Successful
change must
begin with the identification of attainable goals, and a
plan to
achieve them. Unrealistic goals and deadlines, as already
evidenced,
will accomplish little without an infrastructure or defined
process
to achieve them. The creation of education management
"missions"
and "values" will empower stakeholders at all levels to make
value
added decisions that will benefit the
"customer." Implementation
of total quality management (TQM) principles will enable
bloated
bureaucracies to lean out and focus on the delivery of
quality services.
Private sector prototyping is an interesting concept, which
can
be used to develop innovative approaches to organizational
change.
Initiatives such as "Six-Sigma" and ISO standards allow
administrators
to focus on value streams within their organizations
enabling them
to increase quality and manage cost. The recent ISO
certification
of a publicly funded school in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
represents
a new trend in school management to increase innovation in
the delivery
of education priorities. Innovation and conceptual mastery
must
be pre-requisites for organizational change, with tough
issues like
outsourcing being addressed to allow institutions to focus
on their
core business, providing quality education.
New
reforms must
enable administrators to provide quality education within an
organizational
context capable of responding to changing societal,
economic, and
technological factors. Performance measurement standards
must be
developed to gauge effectiveness of any new
initiatives. Putting
aside the debate on the success of past educational goal
setting,
it must be realized that unrealistic deadlines for
educational objectives
will not contribute any value-add to educational reform
initiatives.
Rather, success will come out of tangible goal changing
initiatives.
Progress will be slow, and will inevitably increase the
"reform"
impatience described by Dorn, but will hopefully lead to a
stronger
infrastructure to support much needed change.
About the Author
Patrick P. Persichilli is a Graduate Student in Public
Administration
at the University of Michigan.
Email: ppersich@ford.com
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