Change in Education by Dr. Rudy L Duran

We are about to enter into a discussion about the most critical aspect of being a board member, superintendent, principal or the leader of any educational organization in the twenty-first century. The question that we must ask ourselves is, do we need a change? Change in education has always been with us. The difference is the way we go about change in this modern era of education. The day when we can make decisions about change based on the latest greatest flavor is past. Do you mean that we need a valid reason for the change? Absolutely! The problem we see with much of the change that we see in education today is that it is based on poor data or no data at all. We constantly hear the notion that we have seen this or that before in education. Well, that may or may not be a valid observation. We certainly see things that are at least related to one another many times. This may be in part because the fundamental principles that govern how we learn have not changed. We do occasionally discover a better way to get the results we want, but the founding principles of learning stay the same. Only research in areas surrounding the study of the “brain” function do we occasionally find something new. The Program Approach Instead, we see “programs” that are packaged and repackaged to be “sold” on the open market for profit. The number of fliers that I receive on a daily basis is phenomenal, each promising the solution to all of our problems. So, do we need a change? Yes! We need change because we are not getting the results in many educational institutions because we practice things that have never been effective, just tolerated. For example, when you study the research concerning the way most people learn, you will find that very few learn by “auditory” methods. And yet, you can go into most of the secondary classrooms today and still find teachers “lecturing” using the “sage on the stage” techniques of the nineteen fifties. Students who do not learn well through auditory methods will be struggling, and students who do will be succeeding. The others who do well can read texts or have informal discussions with classmates that allow them to survive. Those who have none of these resources will fail. Schools all over the country buy programs every day, as we try and patch the system we have in a place called, education. If we do recognize a genuine problem, we look around for a program that will fix it! How has that worked for us!? It has not worked, and yet we continue to try this approach. Even though “some” programs do have some initial success, most of the time there is no “follow through” and before long we are looking for the next flavor. It has created a very cynical teaching staff in many instances and caused them to be very skeptical. So, in essence, the “program” approach has failed and will continue to fail as long as it is used in its current form. Systemic Change So, what do we do? We need to make a “systemic” change in our organizations. What do I mean when I say systemic change? Well, first of all we have to recognize the fact that our schools are “cultures” that operate on a set of norms every day. In other words, we have a “way” we do things around here. This “way” is the “culture” that has evolved over time. For example, if a student is tardy, there is a “way” that we deal with that. If a teacher is incompetent, there is a “way” that we deal with that. If we change the curriculum, there is a “way” we do that. All of these processes and responses roll into what we call a system. There are other components in any system, but that is not my focus for this discussion. We want to look at the need for change and how we can cause that to happen in a positive fashion. Change is something that happens in every successful organization in the world that is continuously getting better. This is true in business, education, religion or politics. Change must take place, or the organization is standing still and it will ultimately pass away. Businesses who refuse to change find themselves lapped by the competition. An example would be the American car industry in the seventies and eighties. Detroit was so sure they would never be bested that they refused to change. Along come the Japanese, who, by the way, used the processes of an American by the name of Deming to do it, and produce a better car product than the Americans. The result, the American cars we drive today are ten times better than they were back then! Why, because they had to change or be put out of business. No One Can Replace Us One of the problems we face in education is the fact that we know there is no one who can replace us. So, we resist change because we do not see the need since there is no one who can do what we do. It was not until recent years; in this age of accountability that we have been pressured to examine what we are doing and whether or not we are making the grade. As leaders in education, we must face the fact that we must get better at what we are doing for the sake of our society. No longer can we face change kicking screaming that it will go away. With someone looking over our shoulders, rightly or wrongly, we know that we must make every effort to get better. The results around the country have been excellent in some places and not so good in others. Inevitably as someone associated with education, you are going to be faced with the possibility, and the high probability that change in your schools are necessary. Leading Change Through my studies and experiences I have spent a significant amount of time searching for the best way to lead change because I am driven to be the best. I will not accept second rate for any institution that I am associated. The education business is too important to the lives that we touch to be anything but the best. In my studies, I’ve adapted the eight principles of change that are put forth by John Kotter. First, There has to be a sense of urgency. Educators need a reason to change! If you can establish a reason for a change, it becomes much easier to bring the staff on board. You do this by looking at data and identifying problems that exist in your school. Once you have discovered these reasons together, then you can move the organization forward. Second, you need to put your teams together. This is where your discussions regarding learning communities come into play. Establish teams to address specific components of a problem or individual problems. As educators, these teams must be “empowered” to make decisions and proposals that will be acted upon. Third, you need to lead in the establishment of a vision that is more than words on a piece of paper. What will schools look like when you are finished and what will the results be academically when it is all said and done? What will be the strategies used to get where you want to go? This is where your leadership will be so important! Fourth, communicate, communicate, communicate, and communicate some more! Constantly repeat the vision! Keep it before the staff, kids, parents, and community. Paste it on the walls! Put it on the billboard! Put it in the paper! Say something about it every time you meet! Fifth, Look for ways to tear down barriers! If the answer is no at a higher level, try somewhere else. Make sure you do not take no for an answer until you have talked to the person who can make the decision. Do not be stopped by bureaucrats! If the final answer is no from the top, reload and work around the barrier. Get grants; ask the community, whatever it takes to get the job done! Sixth, Create ways to have short term wins. I always push very hard when I first enter an organization to create a short-term win. This is painful sometimes, but when the results start to take place the turn around in attitudes is phenomenal! Seventh, when you start getting the short-term gains, let them create the groundwork for future change. Make them a part of the school culture. Make the expectation that you will get better become a part of the way you do business in your school. You will do whatever it takes to get the job done! Eighth, reinforce the culture in a way that will sustain the systemic processes no matter who is in the driver seat. Schools that I have worked with to develop this continuous improvement culture had never returned to the way it was before I came. Once the culture is created and reinforced by the leadership, it becomes self-sustaining. Past Accomplishments 1) Victoria, Texas is a multicultural town with high poverty. The San Antonio media had recently highlighted the middle school that I was assigned to as a hot spot for gangs. It was not performing well academically, and all of the other problems compounded the situation. In my tenure there we were able to stop the gang activity on campus and raise test scores significantly. An example was the 40% increase in math scores for our African American males. (See Attached) 2) Clear Creek High School, a school, set in a suburban district, it was steeped in a tradition of mediocrity. In my tenure, we were able to change the dynamics of the culture and the results we were getting academically for all of our kids. We narrowed the performance gap between all populations and set it on the course it is on today, exemplary performance. Upon arriving at Clear Creek, I was faced with the attitude from the staff that they were getting “pretty good results” and that they were satisfied with that level of achievement. They were also convinced that they could not do any better. When I left, we had gone from our kids scoring in the 50-70 percent proficient range on all tests to scoring in the 88-94 percent proficient range in all testing categories. The continuous improvement processes we put in place during those years are still in place today. Why would you abandon success? 3) I came to the Dallas ISD with a major challenge. I was assigned a high school that was an inner city and forty-eight percent English as a Second Language population and 90% poverty. I was informed that in spite of the fact that they had a slight increase in testing scores the previous year, the staff anticipated horrible results for the current year because the students in the tested classes were much lower. We implemented the change in processes that I advocate in the school and had significant increases in test scores in every category and subpopulation but one and as much as 40% in some groups. Although I had to leave this assignment early due to a family crisis, we had set the foundation for change and improvement in the school and for several years after they continued to improve. 4) I entered the field of higher education with the idea that I could train others to do the things that I had been so successful at in the public schools. I was asked to rewrite the curriculum for the Educational Leadership program at the University of Central Arkansas. It was to be based on the ISLLC standards and to be performance based. We succeeded in this undertaking and taught cohorts of students based on performance modules vs. disjointed course work. Nearly every student we trained is a current practicing administrator. Those who are not yet administrators are not by choice. Although we were very successful, I missed the day-to-day challenges of the public schools and returned to become a superintendent. I had trained superintendents at the University, and I realized that the quality of candidates was decreasing and that I could be more useful to children by serving as a superintendent.