Local Planning For Better School Districts

Actions to increase effectiveness of schools in a rapidly changing world Schools, in order to be nimble and stay relevant and impactful, need to abandon the rigid structures designed for less dynamic times. The NEW School Rules expands cutting-edge organizational design and modern management techniques into an operating system for empowering schools with the same agility and responsiveness so vital in the business world. 6 simple rules create a unified vision of responsiveness among educators Real life case studies illustrate responsive techniques implemented in a variety of educational demographics 15 experiments guide school and district leaders toward increased responsiveness in their faculty and staff

... "This Commission was charged by the Governor with reviewing the way elementary and secondary education is organized in the Commonwealth."; "Key points of the charge to the Commission cite the needs to: a. Prepare and recommend a comprehensive plan for school district organization, collaboration, cooperation and state assistance. ... b. Review the present status of school district organization and delivery of educational services in the Commonwealth with particular attention to the authority of the Board of Education to achieve improvement in school district organization ... c. Assure that the process of developing the plan includes extensive participation of citizens from communities of all sizes and locations in the Commonwealth in such a manner as to present to them a variety of alternatives to achieve satisfactory and economical educational programs and to elicit from them their preferences and ideas for possible new approaches to school districting. d. Recommend the necessary processes and resources for assuring the implementation of the provisions of the plan ... e. Give careful consideration to ways and means of bringing urban and suburban children and youth together for common education experiences."; sections include: What is a School District? // The Present Organizational Dilemma of School Districts // School District Consolidation // The Structure, Enrollment and Finance of Public Elementary and Secondary Education // Measures of School District Inequality // Fiscal Crisis in Local School Districts // How Many School Districts are "Too Small?" // Urban and Metropolitan Organizations // Occupational Education // Proliferation of Inadequate Programs // Vocational Offerings, Alternatives and the Student (Limited Choices for Girls, Admission to Regional Vocational-Technical School) // Management Problems in Small School Districts // Citizen Involvement and the Management of School Districts // The Changing Department of Education // Other Reports Related to the Commission's Work // The Commission's

There is currently a renewed emphasis on planning stemming largely from the accountability movement in education. The accountability factor suggests that current and future educational planning could perhaps differ from past planning. These differences could possibly manifest themselves in a wider inclusion of lay persons and groups in the development, implementation, and evaluation of educational plans and programs; more attention to planning in light of specified anticipated outputs or goals; plans for specified time periods grounded in a more comprehensive information base; and a professional assumption of responsibility for the effectiveness of such plans and programs. The objectives of this handbook are to promote comprehensive planning in local school districts, point out the benefits of planning, orient the reader to the planning process, and describe specific procedures that might be used in the various phases of the planning process. A list of references arranged selectively under topics pertinent to the document discussion is included.