Andrea Gabor: Will One of the Nation’s Most Innovative Districts Survive a Change in Leadership?
In her book, After the Education Wars: How Smart Schools Upend the Business of Reform, Andrea Gabor identified school districts and educators who exemplified a truly forward-thinking, innovative path out of our current political stalemate. One of those districts was Leander, Texas, which was applying the principles of management guru W. Edwards Deming, thanks to a waiver from repressive state mandates.
Now Leander is looking for a new superintendent, and Gabor describes the innovative ideas that made the district remarkable.
Deming, a statistician who died in 1993, based his quality management philosophy on two seemingly disparate ideas: The use of statistical tools to measure and improve systems and the conviction that those closest to any given process are best equipped to identify problems and opportunities for improvement. What made Deming’s ideas controversial was his insistence that meaningful employee input only works if it is based on trust. Deming opposed punitive employee evaluations and individual bonus systems on the grounds that they foster fear and undermine teamwork.
Deming’s ideas about process measurement were embraced throughout industry, but his exhortations on the importance of building a culture of trust were not.
That’s what makes Leander special. The school district adopted Deming’s ideas about using statistical analysis and teamwork to improve classroom pedagogy and CONTINUE READING: Andrea Gabor: Will One of the Nation’s Most Innovative Districts Survive a Change in Leadership? | Diane Ravitch's blog
