Clearinghouse on Educational Policy and Management College of Education · University of Oregon
	"Search Help" Note that this is a web site search and will not search our databases ("Directory of Organizations", "In-Process Abstracts", the ERIC Database, "Publications").	Trends and Issues: School Organization Abstracts Discussion Links Resources Revised 2000 This discussion includes the sections listed below. Overview Grade Span Educators reorganize schools to foster a sense of community. As schools seek new ways to boost student learning, they are beginning to scrutinize long-established patterns of organization. Once-routine decisions such as scheduling and grouping are now recognized as key elements in reform because of their impact on teaching and learning. As such, they present school leaders with a challenging mix of issues that require sensitive leadership as well as effective management. Scheduling experiments are becoming common. Best known, though still rare, is the year-round school, which distributes a nine-month instructional program over the entire year. Often adopted to relieve overcrowding, the year-round schedule also has significant instructional benefits. However, the changeover is complex and initially expensive, often facing stiff resistance from teachers and parents. Many secondary schools are redesigning daily schedules. One widespread innovation is block scheduling, which allows much longer class periods that offer more instructional variety, greater student engagement, and enhanced student-teacher relationships. While little systematic research is available, early experience has indicated the importance of teacher buy-in and preparation. Simply shuffling the schedule will accomplish little unless the principal can help teachers develop new instructional methods. Other schedule changes include late starts (often in response to research on adolescent physiological needs) as well as four-day weeks. A few schools run twelve-hour days that allow students some choice in hours. Some schools reconfigure grades. Grade configurations are also evolving, most noticeably in the shift from junior high to middle schools. Another trend is the ÒelemiddleÓ school that includes both lower and middle grades. At the elementary level, many schools are blurring grade levels with multiage grouping, or adopting Òlooping,Ó in which teachers stay with the same group of students for two or more years. [ed. note: For more discussion on this subject, see our article on Grade Span.] At the secondary level, some schools are trying to ÒdetrackÓ the curriculum by expanding heterogenous grouping. As with scheduling, these changes are not merely exercises in management, but full-fledged leadership challenges entwined with instructional, personal, and political issues. Does school size matter? Educators are also rethinking the longstanding assumption that bigger is better. The presumed economies of scale in larger schools are being challenged, and many educators are drawn to the more personalized atmosphere that smaller schools can provide. Similar reasoning is gaining a respectful hearing for the class size issue. Despite ambiguous research evidence, several states have made serious commitments to reduce the student-teacher ratio. What unites many of these changes is a desire to personalize the school experience. For most of this century, schools have defined themselves as organizations based on hierarchies, rules, and efficiency, but some are now starting to view themselves as communities, based on relationships, shared values, and concern for children's development. Through personal contact and collaborative problem-solving, educators and parents create Òsocial capitalÓ that provides children with a coherent, value-based educational experience. Community-building also involves a search for alliances that span the normal school boundaries. Recently, some schools have established partnerships with public-service agencies to meet the comprehensive developmental needs of children. Despite early positive reports, the long-term effect is still unknown, and school leaders find themselves in unfamiliar territory as they try to sort out the relationships. Clearly, organizational changes are burgeoning, with more on the horizon. For school leaders, the challenge is to use their full range of skills. Organizational change may appear to be a matter of moving X's and O's from one box to another, but it always affects the delicate web of behaviors, attitudes, and relationships that allow learning to occur. Principals and superintendents no longer have the luxury to debate whether they are leaders or managers; productive organizational change requires both. Compiled by Larry Lashway, freelance reserach analyst.