In this brief, DMC offers methods that rethink the traditional role of communications as a systemic management function that should seamlessly support district strategy and operations.
DMC has focused significant effort working on communications and community engagement strategies and tactics in conjunction with members over the years, and we encourage members to invest time and effort in building capacity in this area. In a past DMC member survey, district executives indicated three trends: 1) that district communications offices are often under-resourced 2) that skill sets needed by communications staff were changing and 3) that momentum for rethinking the district communications function appeared to be increasing.
This case study on the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) presents a large district’s comprehensive efforts to deepen community and stakeholder engagement strategies in times of fiscal planning. In its second year of implementing its new budget rationalization process, FCPS engaged the District Management Council to assist in the formulation of the revised communications approach.
Read more: Improving Budget Communications with the Community: Fairfax County Public Schools
Great goals enable your district to focus on the “why” of a performance outcome, not just the “how” of the activity. Great goals allow for measurement and management that is necessary to enable school districts to become learning organizations that can adjust flexibly over time. Also, great goals help organizations become more agile in nature, allowing shorter time cycles for evaluating progress and more rapid redeployment of resources. Great goals also raise the overall accountability of an organization by increasing transparency. Today, many school district goals and associated management protocols fall short of what is needed for effective district improvement.
Among others, district administrators, board members, teachers, staff, parents, students, and community and taxpayer groups all represent important voices to be heard as planning processes evolve. Often, external stakeholders have little understanding of (or desire to understand) budget deficits or hard decisions that must be made. Also, people tend to be oriented to specific issues rather than about the system as a whole. A debate can quickly become about protecting “my issue” or “my school.” Supporters show their support by remaining quiet, but districts need them to be organized and vocal. As districts reengage diverse groups of stakeholders to seek input regarding priorities, several key questions should be addressed:
Read more: What Have You Heard from your Stakeholders Lately?
The Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund encourages school districts to scale their innovative ideas locally, regionally and nationally, providing $650 million in competitive awards for such programs. The guidelines for i3 are spurring educators into new discussions about defining and identifying innovation in education. The i3 funds, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will be awarded to applicants with a record of improving student achievement in order to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative practices that are demonstrated to have an impact on:
Imagine a scenario where your central office staff perform their regular jobs, but with the help of executive coaches who provide real-time tools to improve their performance. This is the professional development model being pioneered by the Boston Public Schools and The District Management Council. Instead of sitting in a classroom receiving a typical leadership development program that motivates, but falls short when a participant is back on the job, Boston managers are being asked to bring real performance challenges into the classroom.
For example, a food service manager participating in the program might say "My goal is to reduce our department's deficit over the next 12 weeks by increasing breakfast participation from 40% to 80% in five schools in the district." During the program he will strive toward this goal using a clearly defined and replicable process along with support from a peer group and an executive coach.
The public school superintendent and his or her senior team have come to develop a finely calibrated sense of how to best manage the year-to-year challenges in their districts. For issues such as growth in student population, significant building projects and major changes to curriculum, they are able to make good decisions based on experience, intuition and analysis.
This year, however, threatens to be different. Throughout the past year, the level of uncertainty facing school districts has changed dramatically. The effects of a nation and world lurching through an unprecedented economic recession are trickling down to school districts throughout the country in unprecedented ways. All of the sudden, the future looks highly unpredictable and the well-honed decision-making skills driven from experience no longer seem applicable.
It is also clear that the funds districts will receive from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) may have strings attached and cannot be used as either a stopgap to plug a district's shortfall nor a regular revenue stream to fund a district's long term operations.
Read more: Scenario Planning in the Face of Unprecedented Uncertainty
American public education has followed a varied path of compensating teachers. The prevailing practice of the 1800s was to have local communities pay teachers primarily through room and board. As the American economy became more complex and industrialized in the late 1800s, the demand for more specialized education led to a position-based salary system, which distinguished teacher pay by grade and assignment. The differentiation, however, eventually produced charges of bias detrimental to women and minorities. By the mid-1900s, a single salary schedule, with predictable and objective increments regardless of grade, race, or gender, had gained dominance. This monolithic system of set steps and levels has remained the norm for school districts across the country.
Given the structure of a school district’s services, the human element involved in providing superior performance cannot be overestimated. To deliver a positive experience to stakeholders, school districts rely on motivated, engaged, and enthusiastic employees.
Motivation is a big topic. Managing it is not just about executing standard human resource transactions such as payroll and benefits. Building motivation ultimately depends on how adept leaders and managers are at pulling a wide array of organizational levers in the right way.
Read more: Motivation Tactics Within The DMC Human Capital Framework
What Is Branding?The term "branding" instantly conjures up images of the Nike swoosh, McDonald's golden arches, the Coca-Cola label, and the Starbucks paper cup. Yet, branding is much more than logos, advertising, and public relations. Successful branding is a holistic and comprehensive management issue. It requires a clear articulation of what the brand promises to deliver combined with a consistent customer experience of that brand promise. Maintaining the customer experience, even while facing the exigencies of a recession, builds long-term financial and emotional value for an organization.
Pay-for-Performance Programs: Strategies, Structures, and Funding
By Nicholas P. Morgan & Daniel Schiff
