Great thoughts and they lead to more questions...As NCLB pushes districts to restructure "failing" schools, how can a state or district change culture or ensure that restructuring leads to a better learning environment? Can a district change the culture of the school by requiring the principal to restructure or is it only possible if the district replaces the principal? Assuming that restructuring will entail hiring a new principal, can a new principal change the culture of the existing faculty? As districts nationwide face restructuring (via replacing staff, hiring external operators, or converting to charter status) the issue of turning a less than engaging learning environment into an engaging learning environment is the key challenge. The answers to these questions depend on the characteristics of the paticular school or principal but as districts face restructuring it would be productive if district administrators could learn from charter schools, especially conversion schools, that were able to implement rapid change.
Posted as a reply to:
Cultivating Cultures for Quality Teaching by Marsha Ratzel
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