The Business of School LeadershipNew Perspectives On Public School Innovation

“We need to prepare kids for their

future, not our past.” -Daniel Pink

This memorable quote speaks to a task that

presents one of the greatest challenges faced by

public education today. Namely, how can public

education be transformed to better serve the

needs of students heading into an increasingly

complex, ever-evolving world? Or...

How do we turn principals into organizational

leaders capable of effecting large-scale

transformation when their training is essentially

the same as it was 100 years ago?

Innovative cross-disciplinary professional

development programs for school leaders have

emerged as a way to provide educators with a

new framework for analyzing old challenges as

well as new tools for tackling old problems.

These programs help principals take their

leadership practice to the next level by exposing

them to perspectives, strategies, skills, tools,

concepts and philosophies generally associated

with business, not education.

Why is this a good idea?

This is a good idea because the job of a

principal extends well beyond the boundaries of

academics. It encompasses management,

communications, budgeting, personnel, technical

issues, PR, transportation, food, and

administration... In other words, if it’s related to

the school, it goes through the principal’s office.

And, yet, while principals tend to be talented

educators and good communicators with great

interpersonal skills, they also tend to lack

training in the day-to-day management of large

and complex organizational systems.

As H.D. Chambers, the superintendent of the

Alief ISD, puts it...

“We give them keys to a

multi-million dollar facility

and say good luck.”

Business and entrepreneurship-focused

professional development programs like the Rice

Education Entrepreneurship Program (REEP)

Business Fellowship for School Leaders give

educators give educators new tools for problem-

solving, management, and strategy.

Participants learn business skills like:Needs Assessments

Data Analysis

SWOT Analyses and Regression Analyses

Implementation Strategy and Change Management

Organizational Behavior

Communications and Marketing

Teamwork, Decision-making and Negotiations

Accounting and Finance

Problem-solving and Process Development

Structural Group Dynamics and Operations Management

Leadership and Innovation

They also gain new insights on leadership and innovation by…

Being exposed to new models and new ways of thinking

Experiencing fundamental paradigm shifts and new insights

Forming networks across districts and grade-levels

Gaining a big picture perspective of feeder patterns

Becoming energized by sharing and trading of ideas

Becoming passionate about improving public education through innovation

Returning to districts to share what they’ve learned

Becoming more open-minded and taking more professional initiative

Houston-area principals who go through the

REEP program experience a year-long immersion

in ideas and practices outside of their field,

which have the potential to have a

transformational effect on the world of public

education.

New business skills help educators streamline administrative tasks, optimize operations, identify and assess needs, solve problems, and focus on student learning.

New perspectives on leadership and innovation (as well as streamlined operations) allow school leaders to step back, see the big picture, and focus on large-scale innovations.

How? Two ways:

“I was putting out fires. What I

learned is that other people have

done this before. REEP has given me

the framework to help run my

school better.” -- Pam Redd, Principal, Tipps ES, Cy-Fair ISD

The job of a teacher is not, as it used to be, to

serve as a conduit for information. Today,

students have almost unlimited access to

information.

The job of a teacher is to lead students through

experiences that will allow them to refine that

knowledge, to provide context that makes that

information meaningful, to guide and inspire

students in learning how to think and solve

problems -- to help them make meaning of facts.

Leadership and innovation don’t just apply to

business. As one participating principal said,

“Teachers are leaders, too -- leaders of students.”

Business school immersion exposes principals to a

different model, in which they learn to see their

work in a new light, to consider new ways of doing

things, to become more open-minded, and to take

more professional initiative. Principals who receive

business and leadership training come to see the

advantage of thinking differently...

Not only like educators, but like leaders and

innovators.

RYHT is funding a cohort of Houston-area school

leaders to attend the Rice Education

Entrepreneurship Program (REEP) Business

Fellowship for School Leaders.

For more information on the REEP program, go to:

http://business.rice.edu/reep.aspx