It’s beyond weeding out non-performers

Marc S. Tucker (President & CEO, National Center on Education and the Economy)

Q. How would you describe the education scenario in the United States? What changes have you witnessed in the recent times?
A. We have a decentralised system of education in the United States. The jurisdiction of the national department of education is limited. The ability to make substantial changes in the education system is restricted because authority for decision-making is widely dispersed.

The fiscal crisis that shook the world recently had a significant impact in the United States. with the crash of the housing market. About half of the funding for the schools in the United States is raised by taxing the values of local real estate.

The dominant view of school reform in the country today is framed by the idea that the poor performance of the United States compared to that of the best performing nations is a result of the grip of the bureaucracy and teacher unions on schools. However, there has been a concerted push in recent years to develop and adopt national standards for student performance in English and mathematics. This solution has taken the form of the new Common Core State Standards initiative by the organisation of the executives of the state education systems, working together with the organisation of the governors of the American states.

Last year, they issued a draft set of standards that were subsequently adopted by more than 40 of the 50 states. The federal government, which has no jurisdiction in these matters, has nevertheless offered a substantial amount of money to the states to help them develop tests to match the top standards. Almost 20-25 years ago, the United States had the highest proportion of people in the workforce with a high school diploma, and the highest proportion with a four-year college degree. We are number 12 on both league tables now.

As recently as the 1980s, most people believed that schools in the United States were amongst the best performing ones. But now we are low in the OECD rankings. At the same time, according to OECD, the United States spends more per capita on school education than any other industrialised country in the world except Luxembourg. Click here to read full interview......

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Defining roles and responsibilities

Next steps for addressing these issues include:

• Developing position descriptions for all staff members that clearly explain the requirements and expectations for those positions

• Implementing recruitment and selection processes in order to hire the best staff

• Implementing policies and processes to address staff performance and behaviour

(performance and conduct policies)

Rather than pointing fingers, an investigation should take place to establish the facts and then, appropriate corrective action should be taken. Gaurav and Goldy should consider conducting 360 evaluations for the entire leadership team, including themselves. This would be a way to evaluate the strengths and skills as they craft a new organisational structure. It would also be an excellent way to develop the management skills of the entire team. Another consideration is to engage an executive coach who can work with the three senior managers and Goldy, whose background is child psychology. The advantage of executive coaching for all would be to sharpen their skills, increase effectiveness, capitalise on each of their strengths, help make better decisions with challenging issues and resolve the existing tension. Read more...

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